The hypnotic dreams of healthy children and children with cancer: A quantitative and qualitative analysis

In this study, the Stanford Hypnotic Clinical Scale for Children was admini stered to 52 healthy children and 47 children and adolescents with cancer. Responses to the dream item of this scale were analyzed for the type and de tail of imagery. The hypnotizability scores of both groups were similar. Ho wever, children with cancer reported more pleasant than unpleasant fantasy in their hypnotic dreams, and their dream reports tended to contain less fa ntasy and detail overall. Rescoring the dream item based on extent of fanta sy and detail resulted in a lower pass rate for that item, especially for c hildren with cancer. Regardless of health status, older children experience d more self-involvement in their hypnotic dreams compared to younger childr en.