Maladaptive daydreaming and emotional regulation difficulties: A network analysis

Greene, Talya; West, Melina; Somer, Eli

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2020.112799

Cited by 30 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…(4) Although maladaptive daydreaming was first described as a strategy to cope with pain, negative emotions and adverse life experiences, and as a source of intimacy, loving, soothing experiences and emotions (Somer, 2002), research has revealed that the phenomenon is a complex psychological syndrome, which itself is a source of distress, isolation and maladaptation (Bigelsen & Schupak, 2011;Somer et al, 2016a). Recent studies have explored the idea that neither the immersive nor the maladaptive components of maladaptive daydreaming are effective emotion regulation strategies, and problematic daydreamers have poor and limited emotion regulation skills (Greene, West, & Somer, 2020;West & Somer, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychometric properties of the Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale in a sample of Hungarian daydreaming-prone individuals

Sándor

Münnich

Molnár

2020

JBA

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Objectives: The aim of the study is to adapt the Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale (MDS-16) to Hungarian, assess its psychometric properties, and establish its cut-off score. In addition, the relationship between maladaptive daydreaming and adverse childhood experiences was examined. Method: Study participants were recruited online via snowball sampling. Based on three inclusion criteria (self-identified MDer status; control over daydreaming; frequency of daydreaming) 160 out of 494 respondents were included in the study. Results: Our results confirm both the high reliability and convergent validity of the questionnaire. The cut-off score of 60 percentiles can reliably discriminate between excessive and normal daydreamers. The general applicability of the MDS-16-HU was tested and confirmed by the use of the Adverse Childhood Experience Questionnaire (ACE-10), a short, self-report questionnaire. Its results showed that certain types of childhood adversities increase the likelihood of maladaptive daydreaming. Conclusions: The instrument is a valid and reliable measure, therefore it can serve as a useful screening tool in clinical practice. In addition, our findings highlighted the role of childhood adversities in the aetiology of maladaptive daydreaming.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychometric properties of the Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale in a sample of Hungarian daydreaming-prone individuals

Sándor

Münnich

Molnár

2020

JBA

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“…In later research, two items were added to the MDS (hence MDS-16), assessing music as another contributing factor to the initiation and maintenance of daydreaming . A recent network analysis study (Green, West, & Somer, 2020) on an English-speaking sample confirmed the original factor structure, with music items joining kinesthesia to form a unified third factor. Indeed, many maladaptive daydreamers report that they combine repetitive motion (e.g., pacing) with listening to music during the daydreaming activity to maintain their intense absorption in it.…”

Section: A Cross-cultural Perspective On MDmentioning

confidence: 71%

“…The second reason was empirical; specifically, in previous studies, kinesthesia and music were never separate factors. They were either combined in a single larger factor ( Abu-Rayya et al, 2019; Schimmenti, Sideli, et al, 2019 ) or loaded together on one 4-item factor ( Green et al, 2020 ). The latter network analysis study clearly shows that the strong relation of items #14 and #16 is at the root of the connection between the two domains (and as mentioned above, this makes sense theoretically).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Different cultures, similar daydream addiction? An examination of the cross-cultural measurement equivalence of the Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale

Soffer‐Dudek

Somer

Abu-Rayya

et al. 2021

JBA

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Background and aimsMaladaptive Daydreaming (MD) is a proposed mental disorder, in which absorption in rich, narrative fantasy becomes addictive and compulsive, resulting in emotional, social, vocational, or academic dysfunction. Most studies on MD were carried out on aggregated international samples, using translated versions of the Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale (MDS-16). However, it is unknown whether the properties of MD are affected by culture. Thus, we investigated the cross-cultural measurement invariance of the MDS-16.MethodsWe recruited both individuals self-identified as suffering from MD and non-clinical community participants from four countries: the USA, Italy, Turkey, and the UK (N = 1,081).ResultsConfigural invariance was shown, suggesting that the hypothesized four-factor structure of the MDS-16 (including Yearning, Impairment, Kinesthesia, and Music) holds across cultures. Metric invariance was shown for Impairment, Kinesthesia, and Music, but not for Yearning, suggesting that the psychological meaning of the latter factor may be understood differently across cultures. Scalar invariance was not found, as MD levels were higher in the USA and UK, probably due to the over-representation of English-speaking members of MD communities, who volunteered for the study.Discussion and conclusionsWe conclude that the urge to be absorbed in daydreaming and the fantasies’ comforting and addictive properties may have different meanings across countries, but the interference of MD to one’s daily life and its obstruction of long-term goals may be the central defining factor of MD.

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“…It is known that in probable MDers, the retire in fantasy became a dysfunctional strategy to regulate emotions, hindering daily-life goals and activities (Greene et al, 2020). From our results, it emerged how probable MDers gave more attention to night-time dreams as ways to solve problems, to find creative solutions, and recognize a greater influence of dreams on their mood than non-MDers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dreaming or daydreaming during COVID-19 lockdown: A comparison between maladaptive and nonmaladaptive daydreamers.

Margherita¹,

Caffieri²,

Mariani³

et al. 2023

Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice

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Starting from the idea that dreaming could be considered an index of the psychological health of individuals regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, a major risk of psychological maladjustment has been registered for maladaptive daydreamers (MDers; i.e., people with a compulsive fantasy activity associated with distress and psychological impairment). Nevertheless, there is a gap in literature about dreaming in MDers in general and particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to investigate differences in dreaming and dream content between probable MDers and non-MDers during the COVID-19 lockdown in Italy. A total of 3,857 Italian adults (664 probable MDers), completed the Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale (MDS-16) and the Mannheim Dream Questionnaire (MADRE). Among them, 1,095 participants (222 probable MDers) decided to recount their dreams, subsequently analysed through a cluster analysis performed by T-LAB software. Significantly higher levels of dream recall, emotional intensity of dreams, nightmare frequency, nightmare distress, recurring nightmares about daytime, lucid dreams, interest toward dreams, problem solving and creative dreams, and dreams affecting daytime mood emerged in probable MDers compared to non-MDers. No differences were observed in the emotional tone of dreams. From the quali-quantitative analysis of dream narratives, similar themes emerged in probable MDers and non-MDers, except for a cluster named Dreaming the loss of others, where the non-MDers variable is highly represented. Our results highlight some significant differences between probable MDers and non-MDers with respect to dreaming activity. The massive use of dream activity as an affective regulator emerges for both probable MDers and non-MDers during lockdown.This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.

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Maladaptive daydreaming and emotional regulation difficulties: A network analysis

Cited by 30 publications

References 26 publications

Psychometric properties of the Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale in a sample of Hungarian daydreaming-prone individuals

Psychometric properties of the Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale in a sample of Hungarian daydreaming-prone individuals

Different cultures, similar daydream addiction? An examination of the cross-cultural measurement equivalence of the Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale

Dreaming or daydreaming during COVID-19 lockdown: A comparison between maladaptive and nonmaladaptive daydreamers.

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