The cause of nightmares remains unclear. However, previous research suggests that stress may playa key role and that nightmares may actually serve a beneficial function. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the overall relationship between these two variables and assess the hypothesis that nightmares serve as a coping mechanismfor stress. To accomplish these goals, a group of 412 psychology students were separated into low, medium, and high nightmare frequency groups as well as low, medium, and high nightmare intensity groups. Comparisons were then conducted for daily stressors, life stressors, social support, and coping. Most notably, this study demonstrated a positive association between nightmares and coping with stress. The overall pattern seen in the analyses reflect the significant relationship between nightmares and stress, while the finding that nightmares were positively associated with coping bolsters the supposition that nightmares may help to alleviate stress.

This study investigated correlations among dream characteristics and measures of trauma and perinatal bereavement as reported by women who have experienced perinatal loss. 37 women who had experienced perinatal loss were randomly selected from a perinatal support group and administered the Impact of Event Scale, the Perinatal Grief Scale, and the KJP Dream Inventory. Scores on the Impact of Events Scale (IES) correlated with Emotional Pain (.41), Despair (.37), Dreams of Death (.31), Dreams of Water (-.29), and Dreams of Being Famous (-.36). Subjects who reported higher Social Support and Emotional Expressiveness throughout their trauma showed lower scores on IES Total scores (-.52), Despair (-.62), and reported dreaming more in color (.41). Results are discussed in terms of the hypothesized role dreams may play in the grief-recovery process.