Longitudinal associations between maladaptive daydreaming and psychological distress during the COVID-19 health crisis

Abstract

Background and aimsMaladaptive Daydreaming (MD) is a suggested syndrome where individuals become addicted to fantasizing vividly for hours on end at the expense of engaging in real-world relationships and functioning. MD can be seen as a behavioral addiction. However, a paucity of longitudinal research means that there is no empirical evidence confirming the stability of this alleged addiction. Moreover, the direction of its association with psychopathology is unclear.MethodsWe examine, for the first time, long-term stability and longitudinal associations between MD, psychological distress (stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms) and COVID-19 related exposure.ResultsParticipants (N = 814) completed an online survey twice, with a lag of 13 months. A two-wave structural equation model demonstrated high MD stability and positive cross-lagged pathways from MD to psychological distress. COVID-19 related exposure was not a longitudinal predictor.Discussion and conclusionsMD is a stable condition and a risk factor for an increase in psychological distress.

On the relationship between unprompted thought and affective well-being: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

“…They found that the maladaptive daydreamers showed reduced life satisfaction and heightened levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. Similarly, another study found correlations between maladaptive daydreaming and worse affective well-being assessed over 1 year apart (Musetti et al, 2023). These longitudinal results of maladaptive daydreaming were corroborated by a study that examined more immediate experiences of maladaptive daydreaming and their relation to affective well-being (Soffer-Dudek & Somer, 2018).…”

“…This phenomenon has been assessed primarily with the Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale (Somer et al, 2016). All six studies that examined maladaptive daydreaming have reported that it is related to problems with affective well-being (Abu-Rayya et al, 2019, 2020; Dujić et al, 2020; Musetti et al, 2021, 2023; Soffer-Dudek & Somer, 2018). One study (Dujić et al, 2020) found that maladaptive daydreaming tendencies were positively related to symptoms of psychological distress as assessed by the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation–Outcome Measure problems/symptoms subscale (as indexed by items such as “I felt tense, anxious, and nervous” or “I am unhappy”); but it was not significantly related to the subjective well-being deficits subscale (as indexed by items such as “I have felt okay about myself”).…”

“…One study (Dujić et al, 2020) found that maladaptive daydreaming tendencies were positively related to symptoms of psychological distress as assessed by the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation–Outcome Measure problems/symptoms subscale (as indexed by items such as “I felt tense, anxious, and nervous” or “I am unhappy”); but it was not significantly related to the subjective well-being deficits subscale (as indexed by items such as “I have felt okay about myself”). Three other studies compared individuals who were deemed to show clinical levels of maladaptive daydreaming and those who did not meet criteria based on their response on the same scale (Abu-Rayya et al, 2019, 2020; Musetti et al, 2021, 2023). They found that the maladaptive daydreamers showed reduced life satisfaction and heightened levels of depression, anxiety, and stress.…”

“…Our qualitative summary revealed other types of thoughts that differentially relate to affective well-being. For example, maladaptive daydreaming as defined by excessive unprompted thought that occurs beyond one’s control was associated with worse affective well-being (Abu-Rayya et al, 2019, 2020; Dujić et al, 2020; Musetti et al, 2021, 2023; Soffer-Dudek & Somer, 2018). The uncontrollability that characterizes maladaptive daydreaming is in line with the failure in attentional control characterization of unintentional task-unrelated thought (Carriere et al, 2013) and provides a potential explanation for why they both converge on a negative relationship to affective well-being.…”

“…Another limitation is the sample size: The insufficient number of studies examining specific content or types of unprompted thought using a given methodology precluded their inclusion in the meta-analysis. For example, several studies examining maladaptive daydreaming all revealed a strong association with reduced affective well-being (Abu-Rayya et al, 2019; Musetti et al, 2023; Soffer-Dudek & Somer, 2018). Although these findings are in line with our result involving negatively valenced unprompted thought, we did not have enough samples to obtain reliable results through meta-analysis on this specific type of unprompted thought.…”