Comparison of dream anxiety and subjective sleep quality between chronotypes

Morning and evening-type individuals differ on a number of psychological and biological variables. In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between sleep quality, dream anxiety, and chronotypes. A sample of 264 university students, aged between 17 and 26years, completed the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and the Van Dream Anxiety Scale for assessing nightmare frequency and the dream anxiety caused by frightening dreams. Main findings indicated that evening-type individuals were significantly more likely to suffer from poor sleep quality, daytime dysfunction, nightmares, and nightmare-related disturbances as compared to either intermediate- or morning-type individuals. Previous studies have pointed out the possible connections of irregular sleep-wake habits and circadian dysregulation with a tendency to reveal eveningness chronotypical characteristics. Current findings suggest that evening-type individuals are more prone to experience psychologically deteriorating nightmares and sleep-related anxiety. Poor sleep quality is also a significant antecedent of dream anxiety after controlling for age and gender. © 2011 The Authors. Sleep and Biological Rhythms © 2011 Japanese Society of Sleep Research.