Nightmare distress mediated the correlation between autobiographical memory specificity and depression.
PLoS One February 25, 2025 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0318661 via PubMed Central
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractNightmare distress mediates the link between autobiographical memory specificity and depression. In 112 participants who reported recent dreams and completed scales, nightmare distress accounted for the relationship between how specifically people recall personal memories and their depression levels. Both nightmare distress and autobiographical memory specificity also correlated with how much a dream affected a person's life story. No correlation was found between autobiographical memory specificity or nightmare distress and dream bizarreness.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 112 |
| Population | Participants who provided their most recent dreams from within one month |
| Key finding | Nightmare distress mediated the relationship between autobiographical memory specificity and depression. |
Abstract
In this study, we explored whether nightmare distress mediated the correlation between autobiographical memory specificity and depression. 112 participants provided their most recent dreams that happened within one month, and finished some scales that measured depression, autobiographical memory specificity, and nightmare distress. In line with our hypothesis, nightmare distress was the mediator that played a role in the relationship between autobiographical memory specificity and depression. In addition, we found that both nightmare distress and autobiographical memory specificity were correlated with the impact of a dream on one’s life story. By contrast, contrary to our hypothesis, we did not find any correlation between autobiographical memory specificity, or nightmare distress, and dream bizarreness. Potential implications from these results were discussed.