What are the Building Blocks of Nightmare Proneness? Examining Potential Etiological Factors
Imagination, Cognition and Personality December 5, 2024 DOI: 10.1177/02762366241302706 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 110 |
| Population | University students |
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Key findings | The authors report that nightmare proneness may be influenced by behavioral inhibition system activation, avoidant attachment, and trauma symptoms after adjusting for age, gender, mental health concerns, and complex trauma sequelae. Psychic structure did not appear essential for the development of nightmare proneness but influenced the relationship between nightmare proneness and nightmare frequency. |
Abstract
Nightmare proneness, a trait-like tendency to experience nightmares frequently, has been found to predict nightmares independent of maladjustment markers and involve vulnerability, psychical dysregulation, and a concretizing defensive style. However, research has not investigated possible etiological factors of nightmare proneness itself. The current study examined some hypothesized etiological factors of nightmare proneness. Measures of nightmare proneness, nightmare frequency, behavioral activating system, behavioral inhibition system, arousability, executive functioning, anxious and avoidant attachment, trauma, and psychic structure were completed by a sample of 110 university students. Findings supported that nightmare proneness might be influenced by activation of the behavioral inhibition system, avoidant attachment, and trauma symptoms after adjusting for age, gender, mental health concerns, and complex trauma sequelae. Psychic structure did not appear essential for development of nightmare proneness but influenced the relationship between nightmare proneness and nightmare frequency. The results and possible adjustments to a previous model of nightmare proneness are discussed.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lucid Dreaming: a State of Consciousness with Features of Both Waking and Non-Lucid Dreaming Student volunteers trained to become lucid and signal lucidity with horizontal eye... | 2009 | Observational study | n = 6 |
| Nightmare Prevalence, Nightmare Distress, and Self-Reported Psychological Disturbance Young adults with a mean age of 20 years | 2002 | Prospective observational study | n = 116 |
| Long-term effects of extreme situational stress on sleep and dreaming Survivors of traumatic events who complained of sleep disturbances, compared with... | 1987 | Case-control study | n = 11 |
| The relationship of nightmare frequency and nightmare distress to well‐being Adults who reported dreams | 2004 | Observational cohort | n = 147 |
| The prevalence of nightmares and their independence from anxiety. Undergraduates | 1990 | Observational study using daily dream logs | n = 220 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 3
- Autonomic Hyperarousal and Chronotype as Psychobiological Correlates of Nightmare-Relevant Dispositions Individual Differences Research December 1, 2024
- Validity, Reliability, and Incremental Prediction of Nightmares Using a Shortened Form of the Nightmare Proneness Scale (NPS-6) Individual Differences Research February 27, 2026
- Individual and Situational Predictors of Threatening Dream Content During the COVID ‐19 Pandemic Journal of Sleep Research April 2, 2026
Cites 12
- Aetiology and treatment of nightmare disorder: State of the art and future perspectives Journal of Sleep Research January 29, 2019
- The phenomenology of nightmares in post-traumatic stress disorder and complex post-traumatic stress disorder European Journal of Trauma & Dissociation June 30, 2023
- Stability of nightmare frequency and its relation to neuroticism: A longitudinal study Journal of Sleep Research June 11, 2020
- High thought suppressors dream more of their negative waking-life experiences than low thought suppressors. Dreaming November 9, 2017
- Clinical nightmare frequency and its association with reduced physical health during military operations Sleep August 26, 2023
and 7 more in the library