Things that Go Bump in the Night: Frequency and Predictors of Nightmares in Anxious and Nonanxious Children

Abstract

Frequency and predictors of nightmares among children 7–11 years old with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD; n = 42) and no diagnosis (n = 44) were examined using both prospective and retrospective child and parent reports. Both children with GAD and their parents reported significantly more nightmares than controls based on retrospective reports, but the groups did not differ when nightmares were assessed daily across a one-week prospective period. Females reported more nightmares than males according to prospective assessment only. Controlling for sex and group, child sleep anxiety and presleep somatic arousal predicted parent but not child report of nightmares. Results suggest both clinically anxious youth and their parents overestimate the occurrence of nightmares, yet factors influencing retrospective accounts appear to differ across informants.