Emotions in the Diary and REM Dreams of Young and Late Adulthood Women and Their Relation to Life Satisfaction.

St-Onge, Mélanie; Lortie‐Lussier, Monique; Mercier, Pierre; Grenier, Jean; Koninck, Joseph De

doi:10.1037/1053-0797.15.2.116

Cited by 32 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Whilst there is an array of literature concerning negative emotions in dreams, the evidence from dream science suggests that experiences typically incorporated into dreams are more emotionally intense than those that are not incorporated, but are not specifically negatively valenced ( Schredl and Doll, 1998 ; Schredl, 2006 ; Horton et al, 2011 ; Malinowski and Horton, 2014a ). Some studies indicate that there is a ‘negativity bias’ in dreams – the tendency for dreams to be more negatively than positively valenced ( Hall and Van de Castle, 1966 ; Snyder, 1970 ; Nielsen et al, 1991 ; Domhoff, 1996 ) – but others have found a balance between positive and negative emotions in dreams ( Strauch and Meier, 1996 ; Kahn and Hobson, 2002 ; St-Onge et al, 2005 ). Furthermore, studies that have compared external ratings of emotions to participants’ self-ratings of emotions find that external raters overestimate negative emotions in dreams compared to what the dreamers themselves perceive in the dreams ( Schredl and Doll, 1998 ; Sikka et al, 2014 ), indicating that it is the method that produces the negativity bias.…”

Section: Arguments For and Against Emotion-processing Theoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Metaphor and hyperassociativity: the imagination mechanisms behind emotion assimilation in sleep and dreaming

Malinowski

Horton

2015

Front. Psychol.

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In this paper we propose an emotion assimilation function of sleep and dreaming. We offer explanations both for the mechanisms by which waking-life memories are initially selected for processing during sleep, and for the mechanisms by which those memories are subsequently transformed during sleep. We propose that emotions act as a marker for information to be selectively processed during sleep, including consolidation into long term memory structures and integration into pre-existing memory networks; that dreaming reflects these emotion assimilation processes; and that the associations between memory fragments activated during sleep give rise to measureable elements of dream metaphor and hyperassociativity. The latter are a direct reflection, and the phenomenological experience, of emotional memory assimilation processes occurring during sleep. While many theories previously have posited a role for emotion processing and/or emotional memory consolidation during sleep and dreaming, sleep theories often do not take enough account of important dream science data, yet dream research, when conducted systematically and under ideal conditions, can greatly enhance theorizing around the functions of sleep. Similarly, dream theories often fail to consider the implications of sleep-dependent memory research, which can augment our understanding of dream functioning. Here, we offer a synthesized view, taking detailed account of both sleep and dream data and theories. We draw on extensive literature from sleep and dream experiments and theories, including often-overlooked data from dream science which we believe reflects sleep phenomenology, to bring together important ideas and findings from both domains.

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Section: Arguments For and Against Emotion-processing Theoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Metaphor and hyperassociativity: the imagination mechanisms behind emotion assimilation in sleep and dreaming

Malinowski

Horton

2015

Front. Psychol.

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“…As evidenced in Table 1, when dream reports are obtained using constant sampling (morning awakenings in both settings) and reporting (either written or oral in both settings) conditions, no differences between laboratory and home dream reports are found, at least when rated by external judges (Foulkes, 1979, study 3;Weisz and Foulkes, 1970). However, when non-constant sampling [home morning awakenings versus laboratory serial rapid eye movement (REM) awakenings] and reporting (written home dream reports versus verbal laboratory dream reports) conditions are used, home dream reports contain more emotions, especially negative emotions (Foulkes, 1979, study 4;Okuma et al, 1975;St-Onge et al, 2005). These differences may arise because, at home, dream reports derive from either REM or non-REM (NREM) sleep, whereas in the laboratory they derive from REM sleep.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dream emotions: a comparison of home dream reports with laboratory early and late REM dream reports

Sikka

Sandman

Tuominen

et al. 2017

Journal of Sleep Research

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SUMMARYThe aim of this study was to compare the emotional content of dream reports collected at home upon morning awakenings with those collected in the laboratory upon early and late rapid eye movement (REM) sleep awakenings. Eighteen adults (11 women, seven men; mean age = 25.89 AE 4.85) wrote down their home dreams every morning immediately upon awakening during a 7-day period. Participants also spent two non-consecutive nights in the sleep laboratory where they were awoken 5 min into each continuous REM sleep stage, upon which they gave a verbal dream report. The content of a total of 151 home and 120 laboratory dream reports was analysed by two blind judges using the modified Differential Emotions Scale. It was found that: (1) home dream reports were more emotional than laboratory early REM dream reports, but not more emotional than laboratory late REM dream reports; (2) home dream reports contained a higher density of emotions than laboratory (early or late REM) dream reports; and (3) home dream reports were more negative than laboratory dream reports, but differences between home and early REM reports were larger than those between home and late REM reports. The results suggest that differences between home and laboratory dream reports in overall emotionality may be due to the time of night effect. Whether differences in the density of emotions and negative emotionality are due to sleep environment or due to different reporting procedures and time spent in a sleep stage, respectively, remains to be determined in future studies.

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“…This design has strong advantages compared to artificial sleep laboratory research. Firstly, participants are likely to dream about their current laboratory environment, which is no issue when sleeping at home, and laboratory dreams are usually less emotional than home dreams (Baekeland, 1969;Hobson & Stickgold, 1994;St-Onge, Lortie-Lussier, Mercier, Grenier, & De Koninck, 2005;Whitman, Pierce, Maas, & Baldridge, 1962). Furthermore, there is evidence that nightmares at home are more severe than nightmares in the lab (Fisher et al, 1970;Hartmann, 1984).…”

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confidence: 99%

Nightmares do result in psychophysiological arousal: A multimeasure ambulatory assessment study

et al. 2019

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Individuals who frequently experience nightmares report compromised sleep quality, poor daytime mood, and functioning. Previous research has aimed at linking these impairments with altered sleep architecture, but results were inconclusive. One plausible explanation is that only a few studies recorded markers of autonomic nervous system activity. For the first time, this study collected such markers under ecologically valid conditions with ambulatory assessment. In 19 individuals with frequent nightmares (≥1 nightmare/week) and 19 healthy control participants (<1 nightmare/month), measures indicating autonomic activation (heart rate, heart rate variability, respiration cycle length, electrodermal fluctuations, EEG arousals, saliva cortisol, REM density) were collected while applying ambulatory polysomnographic assessment during 3 consecutive nights. When nightmare participants reported a nightmare, we analyzed the last 5 min of REM sleep before awakening and compared these data to their non‐nightmares as well as to the dream episodes of control participants. Overall, there were no general differences in autonomic activation of nightmare sufferers compared to control participants. However, when nightmare participants experienced nightmares, autonomic activation was markedly increased compared to their own non‐nightmares and, to some extent, to control participant’s dreams. Significant intraindividual differences were found for all autonomic measures except in participant’s EEG arousals and cortisol levels. Group differences were found in EEG arousals and heart rate. In conclusion, ambulatory polysomnography demonstrates that nightmares are accompanied by increased autonomic activation. Results support the notion of impaired self‐reported sleep quality caused by one’s autonomic response rather than altered sleep pattern.

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Emotions in the Diary and REM Dreams of Young and Late Adulthood Women and Their Relation to Life Satisfaction.

Cited by 32 publications

References 33 publications

Metaphor and hyperassociativity: the imagination mechanisms behind emotion assimilation in sleep and dreaming

Metaphor and hyperassociativity: the imagination mechanisms behind emotion assimilation in sleep and dreaming

Dream emotions: a comparison of home dream reports with laboratory early and late REM dream reports

Nightmares do result in psychophysiological arousal: A multimeasure ambulatory assessment study

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