Abstract
Background: Research on the association between nightmares and anxiety has reached conflicting results. Further, the Arabic studies in this domain are scarce. Objective: This study sought to investigate the relation between reported nightmares and trait anxiety among a large sample of Arab students. Methods: A convenience sample of non-clinical 8,218 school and university Arab students took part in this study. They were classified into 13 age groups (from 12 to 24). A self-rating scale was used to assess nightmares based on the participant's perceived frequency during the last month. A 5-point Likert type scale was used as follows: 0: No; 1: A little; 2: Moderate; 3: Much and 4: Very much. The Kuwait University Anxiety Scale was also used. Results: All the Pearson correlation coefficients between reported nightmares and trait anxiety were statistically significant and positive in all of the 13 age groups, and ranged between 0.38 and 0.53, with a median of 0.44. Conclusion: On the basis of a large sample of Arab students, and two scales with good psychometric properties, we can suggest that anxiety level should be considered in participants who experiencing nightmares.
Highlights
We spend one third of our life asleep
On the basis of a large sample of Arab students, and two scales with good psychometric properties, we can suggest that anxiety level should be considered in participants who experiencing nightmares
Regarding the psychometric characteristic of the self-rating scale of nightmares based on a single item, its 1-week test-retest reliability was equal to 0.75 for children, while it was 0.80 for adolescents, and 0.81 for adults, indicating acceptable temporal stability and corroborate the trait-like of the score
Summary
We spend one third of our life asleep. Sleep is an active state critical for our physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Sleep is a basic necessity of life, as fundamental for the maintenance of human health as air, food, and water. Sleep disorders represent pathophysiology, which causes an overriding the active processes that are probably homeostatic and circadian [1]. More than 90 sleep pathologies have been identified, one of them is nightmares. It is important to differentiate between nightmares in the noninstitutionalized samples and nightmare disorder with specific diagnostic criteria. The present study was carried out with non-clinical participants. Research on the association between nightmares and anxiety has reached conflicting results. The Arabic studies in this domain are scarce
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