Nightmare frequency in sexual assault survivors with PTSD

Krakow, Barry; Schrader, Ron; Tandberg, Dan; Hollifield, Michael; Koss, Mary P.; Yau, C. Lillian; Cheng, Diana

doi:10.1016/s0887-6185(02)00093-2

Cited by 156 publications

(125 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Higher scores on the DDNSI reflect higher levels of current nightmare difficulties, with scores ≥ 10 indicating the possible presence of a nightmare disorder. 38 In the current study the DDNSI demonstrated acceptable internal consistency (α = 0.90).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 51%

Unpacking Sleep and Suicide in Older Adults in a Combined Online Sample

Golding

Nadorff

Winer

et al. 2015

Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine

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BRIEF SUMMARYCurrent Knowledge/Study Rationale: Research has shown relations between duration of insomnia symptoms/duration of nightmares and suicide risk in younger adults. However, this relation has not been examined in older adults. Study Impact: The present study found that, in older adults, nightmare duration was related to suicide risk independent of current nightmares, current symptoms of and duration of insomnia, and symptoms of anhedonia and PTSD. Nightmare duration was also related to suicide risk independent of the IPTS. Thus, nightmare duration is an important factor to be assessed when evaluating the level of suicide risk with patients.Objective: Duration of insomnia symptoms and nightmares are related to suicidal risk in young adults independent of current symptoms of insomnia, nightmares, anxiety, depression, and PTSD. However, this relation has yet to be examined among older adults, despite older adults being at higher risk of suicidal behavior. Further, the current study aims to replicate previous research among younger adults showing that insomnia symptoms and nightmares are associated with suicide risk independent of the interpersonal psychological theory of suicide (IPTS). Methods: The present study utilized 167 participants age 55 and older obtained by combining two independent mTurk data collections of adults in the United States. Results: In the current sample, duration of nightmares was associated with suicide risk in older adults independent of symptoms of current insomnia and nightmares, duration of insomnia, and symptoms of PTSD, anhedonia, and the IPTS. Conclusions: Our fi ndings suggest that the duration of nightmares (i.e., how long someone has been experiencing nightmares) predict substantial variance in suicide risk among older adults in addition to the risk factors typically examined. S uicide is a leading cause of death, yet it remains a challenge to predict and prevent. In 2012, suicide was the tenth leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for 40,600 deaths.1 Further, 2012 marks the fi rst time in history that U.S. deaths by suicide have exceeded 40,000 in a year.2 Suicide is a particularly large problem for older adults: although older adults only made up about 13.7% of the population in 2012, older adults represented 16.4% of suicides.1 Suicidal intent, which refers to the degree to which one desires to end his/her life by suicidal behavior, 3 is more common in older adults than in the rest of the population, and attempts made by older adults are more likely to be fatal. 4 To illustrate this, there are 100-200 attempts for every one youth suicide and 4 attempts for every one older adult suicide.5 Thus, older adult suicide attempts are much more likely to be fatal than younger adult suicide attempts. Research has identifi ed many risk factors for older adult suicide including the loss of independence, social isolation, mental illness, and decline in physical health. 4,[6][7][8] However, despite having identifi ed these risk factors, clinicians are still very po...

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 51%

Unpacking Sleep and Suicide in Older Adults in a Combined Online Sample

Golding

Nadorff

Winer

et al. 2015

Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine

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“…The Nightmare Frequency Questionnaire (NFQ) consists of 2 brief sections, and was validated in a sample of adults with PTSD who experienced sexual assault. 60 Further, correlations between frequency of nightmares as determined by the NFQ and by prospective nightmare dream logs were highly significant. 60 However, the NFQ has not yet been validated for pediatric populations.…”

mentioning

confidence: 86%

“…60 Further, correlations between frequency of nightmares as determined by the NFQ and by prospective nightmare dream logs were highly significant. 60 However, the NFQ has not yet been validated for pediatric populations. While the NFQ measures nightmare frequency, the Nightmare Distress Questionnaire (NDQ) is a 13-item questionnaire that measures the distress individuals experience during the day about their nightmares.…”

mentioning

confidence: 86%

Sleep Disturbance in Pediatric PTSD: Current Findings and Future Directions

Kovachy

O’Hara

Hawkins

et al. 2013

Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine

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Many studies have provided strong evidence of a fundamental and complex role for sleep disturbances in adult posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Investigations of adult PTSD using subjective and objective measures document sleep architecture abnormalities and high prevalence of sleep disordered breathing, periodic limb movement disorder, nightmares, and insomnia. PTSD treatment methods do appear to signifi cantly improve sleep disturbance, and also studies suggest that treatments for sleep disorders often result in improvements in PTSD symptoms. Further, the most recent evidence suggests sleep abnormalities may precede the development of PTSD. Given the importance of sleep disorders to the onset, course, and treatment of adult PTSD, examination of sleep disturbances far earlier in the life course is imperative. Here we review the literature on what we know about sleep disturbances and disorders in pediatric PTSD. Our review indicates that the extant, empirical data examining sleep disturbance and disorders in pediatric PTSD is limited. Yet, this literature suggests there are signifi cantly higher reports of sleep disturbances and nightmares in children and adolescents exposed to trauma and/or diagnosed with PTSD than in non-trauma-exposed samples. Sleep questionnaires are predominantly employed to assess sleep disorders in pediatric PTSD, with few studies utilizing objective measures. Given the important, complex relationship being uncovered between adult PTSD and sleep, this review calls for further research of sleep in children with PTSD using more specifi c subjective measures and also objective measures, such as polysomnography and eventually treatment trial studies.

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“…Moreover, the frequent nightmares happen in anxiety and bipolar disorders [17,18]. They are even considered as a hallmark of PTSD [3,9], since they are connected with a broad range of traumatic events, such as combat exposure, traffic accident, crime victimization, rape, and natural disaster [20][21][22][23]. There is a robust association between the nightmare frequency and the severity of the clinical symptom of the psychiatric disorders mentioned-above [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%