Dreaming

Ecological momentary assessment of daily affect, stress, and nightmare reports among combat-exposed veterans.
Research primarily in civilian samples supports bidirectional relations between daytime factors and trauma-related nightmare (TRN) reports. This study tested the relations of daytime negative affect and event-related stress with nightly occurrence and characteristics of TRNs in a sample of Veterans with and without posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We studied 27 U.S. combat-exposed veterans who completed prompts across 7 days of an ecological momentary assessment protocol, assessing daytime negative affect and event-related stress. Each morning, they also reported whether they had a TRN and, if so, the level of disturbance and vividness. Over 100 morning reports were collected. Approximately half of this sample (55%) reported at least one TRN across the study week, with TRNs reported only by participants with current PTSD. In multilevel logistic regression models, higher average negative affect was associated with greater odds of having TRNs. While negative affect and event-related stress on a given day were not prospectively associated with TRNs later that night, a TRN occurrence was associated with greater next-day negative affect and event-related stress. In contrast to findings found in civilian populations, daytime negative affect and stress during the day were not associated with subsequent TRN occurrences in this veteran sample. Instead, there was evidence for a cumulative effect of negative affect on TRN occurrence, potentially driven by experiencing TRNs. Therefore, targeting TRNs specifically could have a positive impact on reducing this self-maintaining nightmare cycle. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
The effect of childhood emotional abuse and neglect on disturbed dreaming frequency: The important role of rumination and perceived social support.
The stress acceleration hypothesis of nightmares suggests that childhood trauma has a profound impact on disturbed dreaming in adulthood. Studies have found that emotional abuse and neglect are the most common but easily ignored types of childhood abuse. This study investigated the influence of emotional abuse and neglect, the mediating role of rumination, and the moderating role of perceived social support on the frequency of disturbed dreaming. A total of 847 participants participated in the study, including 482 female and 365 male, aged 17–22 years (M = 19.05, SD = 0.98). All participants completed a childhood trauma questionnaire subscale, a rumination scale, a multidimensional scale of perceived social support questionnaire, and a disturbed dreaming frequency survey. After controlling for gender variables, we found that emotional abuse and neglect positively predicted the disturbed dreaming frequency. The mediation analysis showed that rumination played a mediating role between emotional abuse and neglect and disturbed dreaming frequency. Emotional abuse and neglect positively predicted rumination and rumination positively predicted disturbed dreaming frequency. The moderation analysis showed that perceived social support played a moderating role between rumination and disturbed dreaming frequency. As the level of perceived social support increased, the positive prediction effect of rumination on disturbed dreaming frequency gradually weakened. The results help us understand the pathways and conditions of how emotional abuse and neglect affect the frequency of disturbed dreaming, as well as provide some references for prevention and intervention for individuals with frequent disturbed dreaming. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Using visual dream reports in art therapy to reconsolidate emotional memories.
A critical aim of psychotherapy is to modify the implicit emotional memories (EMs) that drive the unwanted behavior of clients. Empirical work from neuroscience and psychology suggests that, according to the reconsolidation theory, a memory becomes labile and susceptible to modification when it is reactivated and confronted with a prediction error (PE; i.e., an experience contradicting the memory). This action research aims to fill the gap between reconsolidation theory and psychotherapy practice. Specifically, it explores how EMs may be updated through reconsolidation by creating in-session visual dream reports (VDRs; e.g., dreamer’s drawing, sculpture) in addition to writing a home dream journal. Eight women each attended eight art therapy sessions (including pretreatment and posttreatment sessions), where the therapist assisted them in identifying and updating EMs using their own VDRs. After each session, a table was filled with the identified EMs (i.e., predictions) and PEs that were processed. Data were reviewed to highlight the contribution of VDRs and the related emotions. Results suggest that both the written dream report and the VDR can contribute to different steps of the memory reconsolidation process. Affect change acted as an interoceptive PE, and the surprise reaction elicited through the creative process was used as a key marker of PE processing. Written dream report and VDR also contributed to verify the reconsolidation success. This research enlarges the variety of ways to conduct and verify EM reconsolidation in psychotherapy. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Dream intensity and motifs experienced by psychiatric patients.
This study aimed to compare the dream experiences of psychiatric patients and nonclinical individuals by utilizing the Dream Intensity Scale and the Dream Motif Scale—Short Form, while taking into account trait emotions and the use of psychotropic medications. The sample consisted of 127 community psychiatric participants recruited through mental health organizations in Hong Kong and 164 mentally healthy participants recruited through convenience sampling. Both psychiatric and nonpsychiatric participants were requested to complete the Dream Intensity Scale, Dream Motif Scale—Short Form, and a brief version of the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales. The findings unveiled that psychiatric patients, in general, and depressed patients, specifically, exhibit an overall heightened dream intensity, with their dreams featuring greater concerns pertaining to ego integrity and persecution. Furthermore, in comparison to healthy individuals, individuals with schizophrenia demonstrate a higher prevalence of lucid dreaming and autosuggestive dream episodes, albeit with relatively indistinct sensory imagery during the dreaming state. The findings of this study shed light on the intricacies involved in comprehending the dream experiences of psychiatric patients. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Correlation between attitudes toward dreams and workplace well-being in Taiwan: A study.
This study was a survey on the relationship between Taiwanese dream attitudes and workplace well-being. The research tool used structured questionnaires as data collection tools, and the questionnaires were answered by employees in the workplace. The content consists of three parts: the first part was participants’ background (including dream frequency estimation), the second part was the dream experience and attitude scale (Beaulieu-Prévost et al., 2009) and the third part was the workplace well-being scale. A total of 340 samples were recovered, and the research results were as follows: Different background variables (gender, age, education level, and job attributes) have differences in dream feeling attitudes scale; different background variables (age, marital status, and education level) were different in the workplace wellbeing scale. There were differences in workplace well-being, and workplace employees’ attitudes toward dream feelings have a significant positive impact on workplace well-being. Among them, the impact of the seven dimensions of dream feelings and attitudes on workplace well-being was examined, and the overall well-being of the workplace and its four dimensions reached significant predictions. Among the seven dimensions of dream feeling and attitude, “dream meaning” and “dream understanding” have the most significant impact on the overall workplace well-being and its four dimensions, indicating that “dream meaning” has a significant positive effect on the overall workplace well-being and its four dimensions. “Dream understanding” has a significant negative impact on workplace well-being as a whole and its four dimensions. Based on the results, suggestions were provided for future practical work and research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Attachment insecurities and relational nightmares: Mentalization matters.
Previous research found a relationship between relational nightmares and insecure attachment. The current study proposed and tested mentalization as a moderator of this association. Our primary hypothesis was that the link between attachment anxiety and relational nightmares would be stronger for those with poorer mentalization skills. Mentalization was not expected to interact with the effect of attachment avoidance on relational nightmares. Two hundred eighty-three undergraduate students aged 18–29 years (M = 19.30, SD = 2.02) completed a questionnaire designed to assess relational nightmare frequency, attachment insecurities, mentalization, neuroticism, other dream variables, and demographic characteristics. The results were consistent with our hypothesis and previous research. Attachment anxiety significantly predicted relational nightmares after controlling for attachment avoidance. As expected, the association was stronger for those with poor and average mentalization skills compared to those with high levels of mentalization capacity. Controlling for attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance did not independently or interactively predict relational nightmares. This study further supports the continuity hypothesis of dreams and extends the literature by suggesting mentalization as a mechanism underlying the association between insecure attachment and relational nightmares. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Sigmund Freud’s contributions to dream science.
Although unpopular in some psychological circles, Sigmund Freud is arguably the most influential psychologist of all time, having had wide-ranging impact beyond the field of psychology in art, literature, advertising, and popular culture. There are many errors in his huge corpus but, also, seminal contributions that have been verified but which, because of psychology’s severe silence, have been lost to psychology. This paper reclaims and elaborates Freud’s contributions to dream science (e.g., dreams are hypermnesic; dreams have meaning, and at both surface [“manifest”] as well as deeper [“latent”] semantic levels; context is largely responsible for psychological depth; free-associations map semantic networks and provide context for deep meanings; both universal symbols and universal distortions are at play in dreams). Freudian distortions (e.g., dream-work distortions) turn out to be identical to Bartlettian distortions but for motive (defense vs. schematization). The manifest- versus latent-content distinction can be formulated in analysis of variance terms as the distinction between main effects and interactions. Because of the unique cluster of phenomena involved, the neural default network may be conceived of as the “Freud Network.” (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)

Dreaming - Vol 34, Iss 4