Does COVID-19 impact the frequency of threatening events in dreams? An exploration of pandemic dreaming in light of contemporary dream theories

Zemmelman, Steve; Hong, Danping; Xu, Feng; Huang, Shen

doi:10.1016/j.concog.2020.103051

Cited by 31 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…As for prevalent emotional valence of dreams, we found significant increases in negative emotionality during both lockdowns compared with the periods before them, in line with several previous studies conducted during the first pandemic wave (Barrett, 2020 ; Mota et al, 2020 ; Schredl & Bulkeley, 2020 ; Wang et al, 2020 ; Xu et al, 2020 ). This profile was confirmed by our longitudinal analysis, showing a significant oscillation of dream valence across the four time‐points in the 214 respondents of the follow‐up survey: negative dream affect increased during TL, then decreased in pre‐PL (when the lockdown was interrupted), and newly increased in PL.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Changes in dream features across the first and second waves of the Covid‐19 pandemic

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Rescott

Rosa

et al. 2021

Journal of Sleep Research

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Summary Research during the Covid‐19 pandemic has highlighted its significant impact on dreaming. Here we address changes in dream features both during the first wave, when the Italian government imposed a total lockdown, and the second wave (autumn 2020), when a partial lockdown was effected. In April 2020 (total lockdown), 1,622 participants (M age = 34.1 ± 13.6 years; 1171F) completed an online survey including the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and a set of questions on dream features and their possible changes relative to the month preceding the lockdown (pre‐total lockdown). In November 2020 (partial lockdown), 214 participants (M age = 36.78 ± 14.2 years; 159F) from the previous sample completed the same survey. Approximately half of the subjects reported increased or decreased dream frequency (30.5% and 21.8%), length (27.1% and 15.8%) and vividness (31.5% and 17.1%) during total lockdown as well as during partial lockdown (frequency: 30.3% and 13.5%; length: 23.3% and 12.6%; vividness: 31.6% and 24.1%). Dream affect became significantly more negative in total lockdown relative to pre‐total lockdown and in partial lockdown relative to pre‐partial lockdown (both p < .001). Both in total lockdown and partial lockdown, increased negative dream emotionality significantly predicted changes in dream frequency, length and vividness, and was significantly predicted, in turn, by worsened sleep quality. Our data confirm that dream features are significantly affected by major life changes such as those imposed by a pandemic. The fact that between lockdowns negative dream affect returned almost to baseline level suggests that dream emotionality is closely related to lifestyle and wake‐time emotional changes. Also, our findings point to a modulating role of sleep quality on dream emotionality.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Changes in dream features across the first and second waves of the Covid‐19 pandemic

Conte

Rescott

Rosa

et al. 2021

Journal of Sleep Research

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“…Against this background, a growing number of research papers were showing that the outbreak was associated with relevant psychological symptoms [3,4] and sleep quality was significantly worsened [4][5][6]. Many investigations also explored oneiric activity during the pandemic [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. Results from different countries revealed higher dream-recall frequency during the pandemic (e.g., [16]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dreams and Nightmares during the First and Second Wave of the COVID-19 Infection: A Longitudinal Study

et al. 2021

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Recent literature shows that the Coronovirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has provoked significant changes in dreaming. The current study intends to provide an update about dream variable changes during the second wave of COVID-19. A total of 611 participants completed a web survey from December 2020 to January 2021. Statistical comparisons showed that subjects had lower dream-recall frequency, nightmare frequency, lucid-dream frequency, emotional intensity, and nightmare distress during the second than the first wave of the pandemic. Dreams had a higher negative tone during the second than first wave. We revealed significant differences concerning post-traumatic growth, sleep-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and sleep measures between groups obtained as a function of the changes in the oneiric frequency between the first and second waves. We also found significant correlations between qualitative/emotional dream features and COVID-19-related factors (job change, forced quarantine, having COVID-19 infected relatives/friends, or asking for mental health help). Overall, we found that the second wave affected fewer quantitative features of dream activity and there was less emotional intensity. Moreover, we confirmed the relationship between nightmares and the high risk of PTSD when subjects were grouped as a function of the increasing/decreasing frequency. Finally, our findings are partly coherent with the continuity hypothesis between oneiric and waking experiences.

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“…Beyond the assessment of overall sleep quality, several studies also provided information on specific sleep and sleep-related features during the pandemic, like bedtime and waketime [ [5] , [6] , [7] , [8] , [9] ], sleep latency [ 5 , 6 , 8 , 10 , 11 ], sleep efficiency [ 5 , 10 ], sleep duration [ 6 , 12 , 13 ], sleep disturbances [ 6 , 7 , 10 , 14 , 15 ], dysfunctional sleep-related beliefs [ 16 , 17 ], and oneiric activity [ [18] , [19] , [20] , [21] , [22] , [23] , [24] ]. At present, the assessment of these specific variables depicts a complex scenario in which the pandemic has had prominent deleterious effects on sleep, as predicted in April 2020 by the European Academy for Cognitive-Behavioural Treatment of Insomnia [ 25 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pre-sleep arousal and sleep quality during the COVID-19 lockdown in Italy

et al. 2021

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Objective The COVID-19 pandemic has strongly affected daily habits and psychological wellbeing, and many studies point to large modifications in several sleep and sleep-related domains. Nevertheless, pre-sleep arousal during the pandemic has been substantially overlooked. Since hyperarousal represents one of the main factors for the development and the perpetuation of chronic insomnia disorder, the assessment of variables associated with high levels of pre-sleep arousal during the pandemic is clinically relevant. The study aimed to assess the prevalence and predictors of perceived sleep quality and pre-sleep arousal in an Italian sample during the COVID-19 lockdown. Methods We used an online survey to collect self-reported sociodemographic, environmental, clinical, sleep, and sleep-related data. Our final sample included 761 participants. Results Beyond a high frequency of poor sleep quality, depressive and stress symptoms, our results show that almost half of the sample suffered from clinically relevant levels of at least one component (ie, cognitive, somatic) of pre-sleep arousal. Subjects with greater pre-sleep arousal exhibited poorer sleep quality. Also, sleep quality was strongly associated with somatic and cognitive pre-sleep arousal. Regarding the predictors of sleep and sleep-related measures, depressive and event-related stress symptoms were the main factors associated with both poor sleep quality and pre-sleep arousal components. Moreover, specific sociodemographic and environmental variables were uniquely related to sleep quality, cognitive or somatic pre-sleep arousal. Conclusions These findings suggest that the assessment of specific sleep-related factors (ie, pre-sleep arousal), together with more global measures of sleep quality, may be crucial to depict the complex impact of the pandemic on sleep, and to help prevent and counteract the spread of insomnia symptoms.

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Does COVID-19 impact the frequency of threatening events in dreams? An exploration of pandemic dreaming in light of contemporary dream theories

Cited by 31 publications

References 14 publications

Changes in dream features across the first and second waves of the Covid‐19 pandemic

Changes in dream features across the first and second waves of the Covid‐19 pandemic

Dreams and Nightmares during the First and Second Wave of the COVID-19 Infection: A Longitudinal Study

Pre-sleep arousal and sleep quality during the COVID-19 lockdown in Italy

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