Abstract
(1) Background: Maladaptive daydreaming (MD) is a concept that describes a significant imaginary activity that replaces human engagement and/or interferes with academic, interpersonal, or vocational functioning. We explored the interaction between attachment style, reflective functioning (RF), and the narrative dimension of MD. (2) Methods: 414 adults completed an online survey, including socio-demographic variables, the 16-item Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale, the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised, Relationship Questionnaire, and Reflective Functioning Questionnaire. Participants were asked to write a short description of the most representative episodes of their daydreams. Eighty-four participants were identified as maladaptive daydreamers (MDers). (3) Results: A set of t-tests between MDers and non-MDers group showed differences in attachment dimensions, RF, and linguistic measures. A linear regression model with Global Severity Index (GSI) of the revised Symptom Checklist-90 as the dependent variable, and psychological scales as independent variables showed that the MD score was the strongest predictor of GSI. Regarding differences between the two groups in linguistic measures, the MDers showed more use of reflection and sensory-somatic words, and a smaller number of affective words. (4) Conclusions: These results support the idea that the MD is a process connected to psychopathological mechanisms, probably to a sub-symbolic activation, and to dysfunctional self–other relational patterns that are difficult to integrate.
Highlights
According to a growing body of literature, maladaptive daydreaming (MD) is characterized as “extensive imagination activity that replaces human interaction and/or interferes with academic, interpersonal, or vocational functioning,” [1]
Our study explored the relationship between MD, attachment style, and reflective functioning (RF) and the narrative dimension of daydreams
Our results showed that the MD group members had a greater prevalence of worried and fearful attachment
Summary
According to a growing body of literature, maladaptive daydreaming (MD) is characterized as “extensive imagination activity that replaces human interaction and/or interferes with academic, interpersonal, or vocational functioning,” [1]. Somer’s seminal work on six maladaptive daydreamers (MDers) [1] featured a description of captivity, rescue and escape, and idealized self as central MD motifs. MD is a subset of the greater cognitive phenomena of daydreaming (i.e., a waking fantasy activity), which is a common, healthy mental activity that 96 percent of Americans engage in [2]. According to Killingsworth and Gilbert (2010) [3], this brain process accounts for over half of all human thought, and the average person appears to have hundreds of daydreaming episodes per day [4]. Freud believed that the function of the daydream was the same as that of night
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