Validation of the Spanish Version of the Lucidity and Consciousness in Dreams Scale

Abstract

Lucid dreaming, a specific phenomenon of dream consciousness, refers to the experience being aware that one is dreaming. The primary aim of this research was to validate a Spanish version of the Lucidity and Consciousness in Dreams scale (LuCiD). A secondary aim was to explore whether meditation experience and mindfulness trait were related to LuCiD scores. Data from 367 Spanish men (34.6%) and women (65.4%) who completed LuCiD, the Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) were examined. From the total sample, 40.3% indicated some experience with formal meditation (meditators), while 59.7% did not have any meditation experience (non-meditators). A random subsample of 101 participants, who completed LuCiD for a second time after a period of 10–15days, was used for test–retest reliability analysis. The LuCiD scale comprises 28 items distributed across eight factors: insight, control, thought, realism, memory, dissociation, negative emotion, and positive emotion. Factor structure, reliability by both internal consistency and test–retest reliability, and construct and concurrent validity were tested. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirmed the original eight-factor model, showing goodness of fit in contrast to a single-factor model. Item 15 was deleted from the Dissociation factor as it performed poorly (i.e., skewness and kurtosis, non-normal distribution of responses, and corrected item–total correlation under 0.40). The scale showed adequate values of internal consistency (between α=0.65 for Memory and α=0.83 for Positive Emotion) and test–retest reliability by significant Pearson correlations (p<0.001) for each factor. The scores of meditators were higher for the LuCiD scale Insight and Dissociation factors, in contrast to those of non-meditators. The Observing facet of mindfulness was positively associated with all LuCiD factors, except Realism and Positive Emotion, and the Acting with Awareness facet showed a negative correlation with the LuCiD factor Realism. Finally, positive and negative affects was associated with the LuCiD factors Positive Emotion and Negative Emotion. This study provides a valid and reliable measure for exploring lucidity and consciousness in dreams for a Spanish population, Moreover, the results suggest a relationship with meditation experience, mindfulness trait, and positive and negative affect.

Examining the Relation Between Practicing Meditation and Having Peak Experiences and Lucid Dreams. A Cross-Sectional Study

“…The first refers to logical thought about other dream characters (e.g., “while dreaming, I often thought about my own actions”), while “dissociation” refers to experiencing the dream from a third person’s perspective (e.g., “I watched the dream from the outside, as if on a screen”) ( Voss et al, 2013 ). In a similar line, a previous study ( García-Campayo et al, 2021 ) observed that the meditators scored more highly for the “insight” and “dissociation” factors and reported that length of meditation experience was significantly associated with “control” and “dissociation” (i.e., higher scores for more meditation experience). “Dissociation” seems to be clearly related to the mindfulness facet of “observing,” and significant associations were found between these two subscales both in our study and in Garcia-Campayo et al (2021) .…”

“…Scores range between 0 and 5, with higher scores indicating higher levels of lucidity. The Spanish version of LUCID has presented good psychometric properties (α ranging between 0.65 for “memory” and 0.83 for positive emotion) ( García-Campayo et al, 2021 ). The internal consistency of the total scale in the present study was very high (α = 0.91, subscales ranging between 0.72, for “realism” and “dissociation,” and 0.90 for “positive emotion”).…”

Frequent Lucid Dreaming Is Associated with Meditation Practice Styles, Meta-Awareness, and Trait Mindfulness

“…Most participants meditated in a self-guided ( 69) and an online-based (40) setting, followed by meditation included in secular Yoga practices (29), app-guided meditation (27), Vipassana (24), Transcendental Meditation (15), non-dual meditation (15), meditation included in secular Thai Chi/ Qigong practices (12) and mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) meditation (8). Within the non-secular traditions, most practitioners were rooted in Tibetan Buddhism (34), Zen Buddhism (29), and religious or spiritual Yoga practices (15), as well as Theravadan Buddhism ( 14), followed by Shamanistic (9) and Christian (5) meditation techniques, concluding with meditation rooted in Daoism-based (2) and Sufi traditions (2). Notably, Judaistic meditation practices were not represented.…”

“…Despite strong theoretical linkages, the degree of associations between meditation, mindfulness, and lucid dreaming have been conflicting in empirical studies. Overall, findings suggest an increase in the frequency of spontaneous lucid dreams in frequent or long-term meditators [28][29][30][31][32][33][34]. Moreover, evidence suggests that the extent of meditation experience can alter the strength of the association between mindfulness and lucid dreaming [33].…”

“…However, meditation novices did not show an increase in lucid dreaming frequency after 8-week mindfulness meditation training. A recent study validated an indirect lucid dream experience questionnaire in Spanish and examined, among other dream-related constructs, meditation practices, experience, and aspects of mindfulness [34]. The results suggested that time spent in OM meditation was positively correlated with higher scores on the lucid dream aspects of insight and control.…”