Study objectives: In nightmare etiology, trait and state factors play important roles. However, the interaction of state and trait factors has never been studied in a longitudinal design.
Methods: The current sample included 406 pregnant women who were followed up approximately 6 months after giving birth (n = 375) and 4 years later (n = 302). A nightmare frequency scale and several stress-related questionnaires were presented at three measurement points.
Results: Despite the major life events in this sample, nightmare frequency was very stable over this time period and decreased slightly. In line with previous findings, cross-sectional analyses showed that stressors were associated with current nightmare frequency but longitudinal analyses indicated that previously measured nightmare frequency showed even stronger effects on current nightmare frequency.
Conclusions: Because the nightmare frequencies were very stable, it would be desirable to carry out intervention studies treating nightmares as early as possible-even in childhood-and study whether nightmare occurrence is lower even years after the intervention.
Citation: Schredl M, Gilles M, Wolf I, Peus V, Scharnholz B, Sütterlin M, Bardtke S, Send TS, Samaras A, Deuschle M. Nightmares and stress: a longitudinal study. J Clin Sleep Med. 2019;15(9):1209-1215.
Keywords: longitudinal study; nightmares; stress.
© 2019 American Academy of Sleep Medicine.