721 A Pandemic’s Impact on Nightmare Frequency

Abstract

Introduction: Nightmares have been defined as bad dreams that produce awakenings and have content which can be recalled upon awakening. Frequent nightmares have been linked to many negative outcomes, such as depression and suicide. Research has demonstrated that stress can impact the likelihood and frequency of nightmare occurrences. Furthermore, extreme stress (such as trauma) can produce chronically recurring nightmares. Given the rise in societal stress as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, one could expect an increase in nightmares within the general population. With this in mind, our project sought to examine if nightmares are occurring more frequently during the Covid-19 pandemic. Methods: Our project measured sleep quality and disordered symptoms in N = 2,126 undergraduate college students from the years 2017 to 2020 via online surveys. Data from 2020 was only gathered after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic (which was defined as March 11th 2020). Nightmares were assessed with a self-report questionnaire which asked, “have you experienced a nightmare within the past month”, to which respondents could respond with “yes”, “no”, or “unsure”. Prior to this question participants were told a nightmare is being defined as a bad dream that wakes one up and has remembered dream content upon awakening. Frequencies between years were compared using ANOVA techniques. Results: In regard to the percentage of our sample that reported a nightmare during the previous month, the year 2020 was significantly higher (41.1%;F = 10.27, p < 0.001) than all other years assessed (2017 = 27.0%;2018 = 25.3%;2019 = 31.7%). Furthermore, there was no significant difference between any of the pre-Covid-19 years. Conclusion: In 2020, A higher percentage of students reported experiencing a nightmare within the past month than any of our other captured years. Given our 2020 data only assessed students post the start of the pandemic, the significant increase of nightmares experienced by our sample could be related to stress produced by the Covid- 19 pandemic. Considering that nightmares have been found related to several negative outcomes, such as depression and suicide, both assessment of, and treatments for nightmares may be especially needed during our current climate.