Jessica Lara-Carrasco1, Valérie Simard2, Kadia Saint-Onge1, Vickie Lamoureux-Tremblay1, Tore Nielsen3. 1. Center for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal, Québec, Canada; Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Québec, Canada. 2. Department of Psychology, Université de Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada. 3. Center for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal, Québec, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, Université de Montréal, Québec, Canada. Electronic address: tore.nielsen@umontreal.ca.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The majority of women develop sleep impairments during pregnancy, but alterations in dream experiences remain poorly understood. This study aimed to assess prospectively and comparatively the recall of dreaming and of disturbed dreaming in late pregnancy. METHODS: Fifty-seven nulliparous, third-trimester pregnant women (mean age±SD, 28.7±4.06 years) and 59 non-pregnant controls (mean age±SD, 26.8±4.21 years) completed demographics and psychological questionnaires. A 14-day prospective home log assessed sleep and dream characteristics and the Sleep Disorders Questionnaire measured retrospective dream and disturbed dream recall. RESULTS: Even though pregnant and non-pregnant women showed similar prospective dream recall (P=0.47), pregnant women reported prospectively more bad dreams (P=0.004). More pregnant women (21%) than non-pregnant women (7%) reported a nightmare incidence exceeding moderately severe pathology (>1/week) (P=0.03). Pregnant women also reported overall lower sleep quality (P=0.007) and more night awakenings (P=0.003). Higher prospective recall of bad dreams (r = -0.40, P=0.002) and nightmares (r = -0.32, P=0.001) both correlated with lower sleep quality in pregnant women. CONCLUSIONS: Late pregnancy is a period of markedly increased dysphoric dream imagery that may be a major contributor to impaired sleep at this time. Further polysomnographic assessments of pregnant women are needed to clarify relationships between sleep and disturbed dream production in this population.
OBJECTIVE: The majority of women develop sleep impairments during pregnancy, but alterations in dream experiences remain poorly understood. This study aimed to assess prospectively and comparatively the recall of dreaming and of disturbed dreaming in late pregnancy. METHODS: Fifty-seven nulliparous, third-trimester pregnant women (mean age±SD, 28.7±4.06 years) and 59 non-pregnant controls (mean age±SD, 26.8±4.21 years) completed demographics and psychological questionnaires. A 14-day prospective home log assessed sleep and dream characteristics and the Sleep Disorders Questionnaire measured retrospective dream and disturbed dream recall. RESULTS: Even though pregnant and non-pregnant women showed similar prospective dream recall (P=0.47), pregnant women reported prospectively more bad dreams (P=0.004). More pregnant women (21%) than non-pregnant women (7%) reported a nightmare incidence exceeding moderately severe pathology (>1/week) (P=0.03). Pregnant women also reported overall lower sleep quality (P=0.007) and more night awakenings (P=0.003). Higher prospective recall of bad dreams (r = -0.40, P=0.002) and nightmares (r = -0.32, P=0.001) both correlated with lower sleep quality in pregnant women. CONCLUSIONS: Late pregnancy is a period of markedly increased dysphoric dream imagery that may be a major contributor to impaired sleep at this time. Further polysomnographic assessments of pregnant women are needed to clarify relationships between sleep and disturbed dream production in this population.
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Authors: Michael Schredl; Maria Gilles; Isabell Wolf; Verena Peus; Barbara Scharnholz; Marc Sütterlin; Michael Deuschle Journal: BMC Pregnancy Childbirth Date: 2016-11-09 Impact factor: 3.007
Authors: Virginia A Aparicio; Olga Ocón; Carmen Padilla-Vinuesa; Alberto Soriano-Maldonado; Lidia Romero-Gallardo; Milkana Borges-Cósic; Irene Coll-Risco; Pilar Ruiz-Cabello; Pedro Acosta-Manzano; Fernando Estévez-López; Inmaculada C Álvarez-Gallardo; Manuel Delgado-Fernández; Jonatan R Ruiz; Mireille N Van Poppel; Julio J Ochoa-Herrera Journal: BMC Pregnancy Childbirth Date: 2016-09-29 Impact factor: 3.007