Nightmare frequency and nightmare distress during the COVID-19 pandemic

Remedios, Anellka; Marin-Dragu, Silvia; Routledge, F. J.; Hamm, Sara; Iyer, Ravishankar Subramani; Orr, Matt; Meier, Sandra; Schredl, Michael

doi:10.5664/jcsm.10290

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Statistical procedures were performed using the R statistical computing platform version 4.1.0 (R Core Team, 2021). Previous analyses focused on nightmares (Remedios et al, 2023) and lucid dream frequency (Schredl et al, 2022). For this paper, participants with complete data regarding dream recall frequency, attitude toward dreams, DASS-21, Big Five personality factors, and Covid-19-related anxiety were included.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attitude Towards Dreams: Associated Factors

Schredl,

Marin-Dragu,

Subramani Iyer

et al. 2024

Imagination, Cognition and Personality

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Representative surveys indicated that the attitude towards dreams varies greatly: some participants agreed to statements like “Dreams are random nonsense” but others expressed more positive attitudes that dreams might be beneficial. The present online study (N = 1,507 participants) elicited attitude towards dreams, personality (Big Five factors), current psychopathology, and COVID19-related worries. As expected, the present study showed that openness to experiences, but also current psychopathology and worries were associated with more positive attitudes towards dreams. This might indicate that persons with problems might turn to dreams, as they might be beneficial with coping those problems. Longitudinal studies might validate the idea that experiencing beneficial effects of dreams, for example, within a therapeutic setting, might affect the attitude towards dreams in a positive way. And, if persons with problems turn to dreams, it would be very helpful to include the tool of working with dreams in current psychotherapy practice.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attitude Towards Dreams: Associated Factors

Schredl,

Marin-Dragu,

Subramani Iyer

et al. 2024

Imagination, Cognition and Personality

Self Cite

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“…An additional factor of interest is the increase in nightmares observed during the pandemic [26,27]. A higher frequency of nightmares was reported during the first wave than in the pre-pandemic period, which decreased during the third wave [21,[26][27][28]. This increase was associated with poor sleep and psychological symptoms (i.e., anxiety) [21,28].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How COVID-19 Affected Sleep Talking Episodes, Sleep and Dreams?

Camaioni,

Scarpelli,

Alfonsi

et al. 2024

Brain Sciences

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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic increased symptoms of stress and anxiety and induced changes in sleep quality, dream activity, and parasomnia episodes. It has been shown that stressful factors and/or bad sleep habits can affect parasomnia behaviors. However, investigations on how COVID-19 has affected sleep, dreams, and episode frequency in parasomnias are rare. The current study focuses on the impact of the pandemic on a specific parasomnia characterized by speech production (sleep talking, ST). Methods: We selected 27 participants with frequent ST episodes (STs) during the pandemic and compared them with 27 participants with frequent STs from a previous study conducted during a pre-pandemic period. All participants performed home monitoring through sleep logs and recorded their nocturnal STs for one week. Results: We observed a higher frequency of STs in the pandemic group. Moreover, STs were related to the emotional intensity of dreams, independent of the pandemic condition. The pandemic was associated with lower bizarreness of dreams in the pandemic group. There were no differences in sleep variables between the two groups. Conclusion: Overall, these results suggest a stressful effect of COVID-19 on the frequency of STs. Both the pandemic and the frequency of STs affect qualitative characteristics of dreams in this population.

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Nightmare frequency is a risk factor for suicidal ideation during the COVID‐19 pandemic

Bolstad,

Holzinger,

Scarpelli

et al. 2024

Journal of Sleep Research

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SummaryThe association between nightmare frequency (NMF) and suicidal ideation (SI) is well known, yet the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on this relation is inconsistent. This study aimed to investigate changes in NMF, SI, and their association during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Data were collected in 16 countries using a harmonised questionnaire. The sample included 9328 individuals (4848 women; age M[SD] = 46.85 [17.75] years), and 17.60% reported previous COVID‐19. Overall, SI was significantly 2% lower during the pandemic vs. before, and this was consistent across genders and ages. Most countries/regions demonstrated decreases in SI during this pandemic, with Austria (−9.57%), Sweden (−6.18%), and Bulgaria (−5.14%) exhibiting significant declines in SI, but Italy (1.45%) and Portugal (2.45%) demonstrated non‐significant increases. Suicidal ideation was more common in participants with long‐COVID (21.10%) vs. short‐COVID (12.40%), though SI did not vary by COVID‐19 history. Nightmare frequency increased by 4.50% during the pandemic and was significantly higher in those with previous COVID‐19 (14.50% vs. 10.70%), during infection (23.00% vs. 8.10%), and in those with long‐COVID (18.00% vs. 8.50%). The relation between NMF and SI was not significantly stronger during the pandemic than prior (rs = 0.18 vs. 0.14; z = 2.80). Frequent nightmares during the pandemic increased the likelihood of reporting SI (OR = 1.57, 95% CI 1.20–2.05), while frequent dream recall during the pandemic served a protective effect (OR = 0.74, 95% CI 0.59–0.94). These findings have important implications for identifying those at risk of suicide and may offer a potential pathway for suicide prevention.

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Nightmare frequency and nightmare distress during the COVID-19 pandemic

Cited by 3 publications

References 26 publications

Attitude Towards Dreams: Associated Factors

Attitude Towards Dreams: Associated Factors

How COVID-19 Affected Sleep Talking Episodes, Sleep and Dreams?

Nightmare frequency is a risk factor for suicidal ideation during the COVID‐19 pandemic

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