Assessment of dream-related aspects and beliefs in a large cohort of French students using a validated French version of the Mannheim Dream questionnaire

Focusing on a specific population when studying dream characteristics can shed light on underlying mechanisms and correlates of dreaming. The aim of this study is to establish a clearer description of specific dream aspects and beliefs in a large cohort of students using a validated questionnaire, and to further investigate the role of sociodemographic variables such as age, gender and field of study. Participants were 1137 students aged from 18 to 34 (mean age: 22.2) who responded to an online version of the questionnaire. Our results showed a difference between humanities and science students, and a differential effect of gender on dream variables. Our results are discussed in light of previous investigations using the same questionnaire or focusing on the same population.

Bad dreams, bedtime anxiety, and trait anxiety in school-aged children

Background and objectives Occasional nightmares (distressing dreams that awaking the sleeper) and bad dreams (distressing dreams that do not awaking the sleeper) are very common in children and adolescents. About 5% of children experience frequent nightmares (once a week or more often) and the question arises as to what factors contribute to significant nightmare distress which is basic for diagnosing a nightmare disorder. Materials and methods A sample of 624 school-aged children (10–16 years; mean age 12.45 ± 1.33 years) completed a dream questionnaire and an anxiety inventory. Results About 11% of the participants reported frequent bad dreams; 3.5% reported frequent bedtime anxieties due to bad dreams. Similar to the findings in adults, distress due to bad dreams was not only related to bad dream frequency but also to trait anxiety—controlling for the direct effect of trait anxiety on bad dream frequency, i.e., bad dream frequency and trait anxiety contributed independently to bedtime anxiety due to bad dreams. In the exploratory part, the cultural background of the children’s parents showed only minor effects on bad dreams. Conclusion Similar to nightmare studies in adults, bad dream frequency and trait anxiety contributed independently to bad dream distress. Based on the current diagnostic criteria of the nightmare disorder, it would be interesting to have the opportunity to treat children with significant distress due to nightmares or bad dreams and study the long-term benefit—given that many adult nightmare sufferers reported that their nightmares started in childhood.

Being Someone or Something Else in the Dream: Relationship to Thin Boundaries

Being something or someone else or being younger in dreams are quite rare topics. In this study, the relationship between boundary thinness and these topics was studied. A sample of 444 students completed the Typical Dream Questionnaire and the Boundary Questionnaire. As expected, persons with thin boundaries dreamed more often being something or someone else or being younger reflecting the traits associated with boundary thinness, for example, good memory for childhood experiences and fluid sexual identity. Although large dream samples would be necessary, the next step would be to look at dream content, for example, whether being someone or something else is related to positive or negative emotions.