Nightmares and bad dreams: Their prevalence and relationship to well-being

This study, for the first time, distinguishes between nightmares and bad dr eams, measures the frequency of each using dream logs, and separately asses ses the relation between nightmares, bad dreams, and well-being. Eighty-nin e participants completed 7 measures of well-being and recorded their dreams for 4 consecutive weeks. The dream logs yielded estimated mean annual nigh tmare and bad-dream frequencies that were significantly (ps < .01) greater than the mean 12-month and I-month retrospective estimates. Nightmare frequ ency had more significant correlations than bad-dream frequency with well-b eing, suggesting that nightmares are a more severe expression of the same b asic phenomenon. The findings confirm and extend evidence that nightmares a re more prevalent than was previously believed and underscore the need to d ifferentiate nightmares from bad dreams.