Psychology Research Digest
Dreaming - Vol 36, Iss 2
Dreaming is a multidisciplinary journal, the only professional journal devoted specifically to dreaming. The journal publishes scholarly articles related to dreaming from any discipline and viewpoint. This includes biological aspects of dreaming and sleep/dream laboratory research; psychological articles of any kind related to dreaming; clinical work on dreams regardless of theoretical perspective (Freudian, Jungian, existential, eclectic, etc.); anthropological, sociological, and philosophical articles related to dreaming; and articles about dreaming from any of the arts and humanities.
Lucid dreaming and sleep characteristics in posttraumatic stress disorder.
Lucid dreaming, a type of dreaming where individuals are aware that they are dreaming and may control their dreams, was examined in adults with chronic posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. The study explored the relationship between sleep metrics and lucid dreaming, analyzing 168 nights of sleep data from 27 individuals using portable electroencephalogram (EEG) headsets. Participants reported lucid dreams on 25 nights. To identify key predictors of lucid dreaming, the study employed generalized linear modeling with fivefold cross-validation to reduce statistical bias. Sleep onset latency, the time it takes to fall asleep, consistently emerged as the strongest predictor. Longer latency was associated with a lower likelihood of lucid dreaming, suggesting that specific patterns of sleep onset play a critical role. Wake after sleep onset, which measures sleep fragmentation, was positively correlated with lucid dreaming, indicating that more interrupted sleep might increase the chances of achieving lucidity. In addition, lower delta wave (1–2 Hz) activity during rapid eye movement sleep, often linked to deeper sleep, was negatively associated with lucid dreaming. These findings underscore the intricate interplay between sleep quality, brain wave activity, and the occurrence of lucid dreaming. The results highlight sleep metrics that could guide future therapeutic strategies, particularly for individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder, by improving sleep quality and leveraging lucid dreaming to manage symptoms such as nightmares. Furthermore, the insights gained from this research may extend to the general population, broadening our understanding of the mechanisms and potential benefits of lucid dreaming. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)
Publication date: Mon, 18 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT Access the article >>The relationship between lucid dreaming and well-being: A systematic literature review.
Lucid dreaming (LD) has gained attention as a potential contributor to well-being. However, there currently exists no systematic literature review of this relationship, which sets the basis for this study. This systematic literature review aims to investigate the relationship between LD and several types of well-being. It also explores potential moderating factors, underlying mechanisms, and possible applications of LD in relation to well-being. A systematic literature search was conducted to identify studies that provided insight into the relationship between LD and well-being and that were published from 2003 onward. Eight studies met the inclusion criteria. These included five cross-sectional studies, a randomized controlled trial, a preexperimental study, and a mixed-methods study. Information about the study characteristics, design, sample, outcome measures, and results was collected in an extraction form. The findings indicate a positive relationship between LD and hedonic/subjective well-being, including positive affect, mood, and life satisfaction. Qualitative insights revealed that LD can contribute to self-exploration, creativity, empowerment, and spiritual experiences, integral to eudaimonic and psychological well-being. As possible moderators, life satisfaction, deliberacy of LD induction, and LD operationalization were identified. Moreover, LD application was identified as a possible underlying mechanism. Although the evidence supports a positive association between LD and hedonic well-being, future research should investigate the impact of LD on eudaimonic/psychological well-being. In addition, the exploration of moderating factors and underlying mechanisms such as LD applications is essential to unlocking the therapeutic potential of LD. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)
Publication date: Mon, 08 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Access the article >>REM sleep protects against emotional distractor interference in young adults independent of lucid dreaming induction.
REM sleep is essential for emotional regulation and memory consolidation. Lucid dreaming (the awareness of dreaming while asleep) has been proposed to enhance REM sleep’s emotional processing function, yet its effects on mood and emotion-related cognition remain unclear. Eighty young adults (Mage = 18.9 years) completed three baseline nights of single-channel electroencephalographic sleep monitoring followed by three nights of lucid dream induction using the senses induced lucid dreaming technique. Sleep parameters (quality, REM duration), mood (Profile of Mood States), sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), and emotion-laden working memory performance (delayed recognition working memory task) were assessed. The lucid dream induction protocol did not significantly increase REM duration, lucid dream frequency, or improve global mood or sleep quality. However, REM sleep duration predicted cognitive performance under emotional distraction: Participants with longer REM durations showed faster reaction times and resilience to negatively valenced distractors, whereas shorter REM durations were associated with slower responses to negative versus neutral distractors. REM time also correlated positively with vigor and negatively with fatigue on the Profile of Mood States, independent of lucid dream frequency. Although the senses induced lucid dreaming induction protocol did not enhance mood or sleep quality, greater REM sleep duration appeared to protect against affective interference during working memory. These results support the view that REM sleep promotes overnight emotion regulation and buffers cognitive performance against emotional distraction, even without lucid awareness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)
Publication date: Thu, 14 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT Access the article >>Emotional suppression and the relationship between wakeful and dream emotions.
This study aimed to investigate whether emotional suppression tendency is related to the discontinuity between wakeful emotions and dream emotions. Screening and diary surveys were conducted, and a total of 76 participants completed the study. The screening survey measured aspects of dreaming using the Manheim Dream Questionnaire (Schredl et al., 2014), the Emotional Suppression Tendency Scale (Kashimura & Iwamitsu, 2007), and the Japanese version of the Beck Depression Inventory (Hayashi, 1988). During the diary survey, conducted over 7 days, participants completed a presleep task in which they rated the emotions experienced during wakefulness that day and a postsleep task in which they described the content of their dreams and rated the emotions experienced within those dreams. The results confirmed an emotional discontinuity between wakefulness and dreams. Specifically, positive emotions during wakefulness decreased in dreams, whereas negative emotions increased in dreams. This is believed to be due to the emotion-processing function of dreams. However, in the main analyses, no differences in the intensity of emotions were observed according to emotional suppression tendency. This may be related to the fact that the Emotional Suppression Tendency Scale measures the suppression of emotional expression and that the diary method was used as the research approach. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)
Publication date: Mon, 16 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Access the article >>Prompt-based zero-shot classification for analyzing delusional themes in dreams.
This study investigated the use of a large language model, and particularly OpenAI’s Generative Pretrained Transformer (GPT)-4o, for classifying delusional themes in dream reports. Zero-shot classification, where task-specific prompts guided the model without prior fine-tuning, was used to identify three primary categories of delusional themes in 150 culturally diverse dream reports: grandiosity, persecution, and ego-ideal themes. Model outputs were validated against human annotations by a judge who had postgraduate training and was familiar with the categorization of delusional dream themes established by the original author. In addition, the same set of dreams were coded by undergraduate judges to compare the effectiveness of GPT-4o coding. The results showed that GPT-4o achieved an overall accuracy of 97.7%, surpassing the undergraduate annotators’ accuracy of 97.0%. Compared with undergraduate annotators, GPT-4o consistently demonstrated higher agreement with the expert rating (Jaccard index: .589 vs. .199). These findings support the utility of GPT-4o in automated analysis of delusional dream content. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)
Publication date: Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Access the article >>Self-rated continuity between waking and dreaming: Associations with personality.
The continuity hypothesis of dreaming states that our daily activities are reflected in our dreams. The question of whether there are factors, for example, personality, that modulate continuity is still unanswered. The majority of participants of the U.K. library study (N = 1,375) stated that their dreams are affected by their daily activities. This perceived continuity is associated with openness to experience and supports the idea that boundary thinness, which is closely related to openness to experience, should be integrated into the framework of the continuity hypothesis. Moreover, dream recall frequency and female gender were also related to the self-rated continuity between waking and dreaming. This line of research clearly supports the necessity to carry out empirical studies looking at factors that might modulate the continuity between waking and dreaming. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)
Publication date: Thu, 05 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Access the article >>Integrating the cognitive-experiential model and expressive art drawing in dreamwork with children.
This study examined the application of expressive art in the cognitive-experiential model of dreamwork originally developed by Hill (1996), focusing on its use with child participants. The study addressed three primary research questions: (a) whether a dreamwork workbook based on Hill’s model would facilitate children’s exploration of their dreams; (b) whether the addition of expressive drawing would enhance children’s understanding of their dreams and their ability to relate dream events to waking-life experiences; and (c) whether specific features in children’s dream drawings were associated with dreamwork session outcomes. Using a within- and between-subjects experimental design, each participant contributed one dream, which was used in both a baseline and an experimental condition. Fifty-three children, aged 8–12 years, participated in the study. Measures included the Dream Intensity Scale, Session Evaluation Scale, Gains from Dream Interpretation Scale, and Session Impact Scale—Understanding Subscale. Results revealed significant improvements in both the workbook and expressive drawing conditions when compared with the baseline. Although mean scores were higher for the expressive drawing condition than for the workbook condition, a statistically significant difference was observed only on the Session Evaluation Scale. Drawing ratings were significantly associated with the Gains from Dream Interpretation and Session Impact Scale—Understanding Subscale scores. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)
Publication date: Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Access the article >>Dream work in the United States and Korea: Self-oriented and relationship-oriented themes of female college students.
We compared the self and relationship themes in dream sessions of 10 U.S. and 10 Korean female college students. Preliminary analyses showed that the two samples were similar in terms of dream salience, but the U.S. sample scored higher in terms of session outcome (session evaluation, gains in dream work) than did the Korean sample. Qualitative analyses revealed considerable similarity in their descriptions of self and relationships in that participants in both samples discussed self-esteem/self-image, self-competence, personality and emotional traits, and multiple aspects of self. In terms of differences, U.S. participants more often than their Korean counterparts discussed a sense of self-agency, high self-esteem/positive self-image, desire to control their own lives, self-competence, inner conflicts, and feeling distant and experiencing conflicts in nonfamily relationships, whereas Korean participants more often than their U.S. counterparts discussed feelings of helplessness and feeling criticized in family relationships. Results are discussed in terms of cultural differences. Strengths and limitations of current findings as well as implications for research and clinical practice are included. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)
Publication date: Mon, 11 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT Access the article >>Subjectively estimated effects of nightmares on sleep onset latency and sleep quality: A cross-sectional study.
Cross-sectional studies have established consistent associations between nightmare frequency, waking anxiety, and sleep disturbances. Yet, little is known about the extent to which individuals explicitly attribute sleep impairments to nightmares. This study examines subjectively estimated effects of nightmares on overall sleep quality and on sleep onset latency due to fear of nightmares. A sample of 285 participants (221 women, 60 men, and 4 nonbinary) with a mean age of 24.00 ± 7.51 years completed a questionnaire. The findings extend prior research on the interplay between anxiety, sleep quality, and nightmare frequency: Approximately 10% and over 40% reported that nightmares affect sleep onset due to the fear of nightmares and overall sleep quality, respectively. As hypothesized, individuals with more frequent nightmares and higher anxiety levels were more likely to report negative effects of nightmares on sleep onset latency and sleep quality. Our findings suggest that combining therapeutic techniques for treating nightmares, sleep problems, and waking anxiety might be beneficial for nightmare sufferers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)
Publication date: Thu, 19 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Access the article >>An examination of the relationship between body awareness, dream themes, and somatization in adult women.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between body awareness, dream themes, and somatization symptoms in adult women. A total of 213 adult women aged 18–65 years participated in the study via online questionnaire. Body awareness was assessed using the Body Awareness Questionnaire, somatization symptoms were evaluated with the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised, and dream themes were measured using the Dream Themes Scale. For statistical analysis, Pearson correlation analysis and independent samples t test were employed. Body awareness was not significantly associated with somatization symptoms (p = .661, r = −.03), whereas body awareness and dream themes were weak but significantly associated (p = .004, r = .199), and somatization symptoms and dream themes showed a moderate positive association (p < .001, r = .327). In addition, dream content differed significantly between participants with below-average and above-average body awareness (p = .013). The findings revealed that as somatization symptoms increased among participants, dream content tended to become more negative. Headache emerged as the most frequently reported symptom, with heaviness in the limbs and nausea the most commonly co-occurring somatization symptoms. Future research should investigate the effect of body awareness on dream content and frequency through a multidimensional assessment, particularly in individuals experiencing pain and somatization symptoms. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)
Publication date: Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Access the article >>Unveiling the night: How internalized homophobia shapes sexual dreams in homosexual individuals.
Sexual dreams are prevalent and often reflect one’s subconscious sexual attitudes. Homosexual individuals have historically faced discrimination, leading to internalized homophobia, which can influence their sexual dreams. However, research on this topic is limited. This study examined the link between internalized homophobia and sexual dreams, focusing on the roles of depression and psychological resilience. This study used the Sexual Dream Experience Questionnaire, the Internalized Homophobia Questionnaire, the Rasch-Derived Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, and the 10-item Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale with 450 homosexual subjects. Regression analysis and the bootstrap method were used to test the mediation and moderation model. The findings indicated that (a) internalized homophobia positively predicted four dimensions of sexual dreams, (b) depression mediated the link between internalized homophobia and aversion to sexual dreams, and (c) psychological resilience negatively moderated the impact of internalized homophobia on depression. The study shows that internalized homophobia in homosexual individuals significantly affects the emotional responses and content of their sexual dreams. Specifically, internalized homophobia positively predicts aversion to sexual dreams through a mechanism that exacerbates individuals’ depression. Conversely, psychological resilience can counteract this effect. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)
Publication date: Mon, 02 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Access the article >>Frequencies of people occurring in a long series of dreams.
We consider whether frequencies of people occurring in a long series of dreams of an individual share properties of frequencies of phone contacts made by a large sample of individuals. Saramäki et al. (2014) analyzed contacts individuals made by mobile phone over successive time intervals. By treating an occurrence of a person in a dream as analogous to a phone contact with the person, we reformulated their findings for phone calls as hypotheses to be tested for dreams. (1) A few people occur in a large proportion of dreams, and many occur in a small proportion. (2) The distribution of frequencies changes only little from interval to interval. (3) Despite little change in the distribution of frequencies, the people dreamt of change considerably from interval to interval, with greater retention of higher frequency people. The statements were true for frequencies of people occurring in the dreams of our studied individual. We further found that the distribution of nonzero frequencies of people each year was well described by a particular probability distribution, a power law. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)
Publication date: Thu, 05 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Access the article >>