Dreams and Nightmares during the First and Second Wave of the COVID-19 Infection: A Longitudinal Study.
Serena Scarpelli, Valentina Alfonsi, Maurizio Gorgoni, Alessandro Musetti, Maria Filosa, Maria C Quattropani, Vittorio Lenzo, Elena Vegni, Lidia Borghi, Giorgia Margherita, Maria Francesca Freda, Emanuela Saita, Roberto Cattivelli, Gianluca Castelnuovo, Tommaso Manari, Giuseppe Plazzi, Luigi De Gennaro, Christian Franceschini
Brain sciences October 20, 2021 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11111375 via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractDuring the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, people reported lower dream recall, fewer nightmares, less frequent lucid dreams, and reduced emotional intensity in dreams compared to the first wave. Dreams during the second wave had a more negative tone. Changes in dream frequency between the two waves were linked to post-traumatic growth, sleep-related PTSD symptoms, and sleep quality. Emotional features of dreams correlated with pandemic-related factors such as job changes, forced quarantine, having infected relatives or friends, and seeking mental health help. The findings partly support the continuity hypothesis, which links dream content to waking experiences.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Observational cohort Longitudinal Qualitative Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 611 |
| Population | Adults who completed a web survey during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic |
| Duration | December 2020 to January 2021 |
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Keywords | Covid-19 Lockdown Lucid dreams Nightmares |
| Citations | 23 |
| Key finding | During the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, dream recall, nightmare frequency, lucid-dream frequency, emotional intensity, and nightmare distress were lower than during the first wave, while dreams had a more negative tone. |
Abstract
Recent literature shows that the Coronovirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has provoked significant changes in dreaming. The current study intends to provide an update about dream variable changes during the second wave of COVID-19. A total of 611 participants completed a web survey from December 2020 to January 2021. Statistical comparisons showed that subjects had lower dream-recall frequency, nightmare frequency, lucid-dream frequency, emotional intensity, and nightmare distress during the second than the first wave of the pandemic. Dreams had a higher negative tone during the second than first wave. We revealed significant differences concerning post-traumatic growth, sleep-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and sleep measures between groups obtained as a function of the changes in the oneiric frequency between the first and second waves. We also found significant correlations between qualitative/emotional dream features and COVID-19-related factors (job change, forced quarantine, having COVID-19 infected relatives/friends, or asking for mental health help). Overall, we found that the second wave affected fewer quantitative features of dream activity and there was less emotional intensity. Moreover, we confirmed the relationship between nightmares and the high risk of PTSD when subjects were grouped as a function of the increasing/decreasing frequency. Finally, our findings are partly coherent with the continuity hypothesis between oneiric and waking experiences.