Differences in the Relationship Between Nightmares and Coping With Stress for Asians and Caucasians

A Brief Report

Picchioni, Dante
Hicks, Robert A.

¹Department of Psychology, San Jose State University

Dante Picchioni is now at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Silver Spring, MD. Robert A. Hicks is now Professor Emeritus at San Jose State University.

We thank Tammy T. Nguyen (posthumously), Brandy Goeltzenleucher, Del N. Green, Mary J. Convento, Rebecca Crittenden, and Michelle Hallgren for their assistance with this research.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to: Dante Picchioni, Ph.D., Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Division of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Department of Behavioral Biology, 503 Robert Grant Avenue, Room 2w96, Silver Spring, MD 20910. E-mail: [email protected]

Dreaming 19(2):p 108-112, June 2009. | DOI: 10.1037/a0016483

In contrast to posttraumatic nightmares, some nightmares can also be idiopathic. Previous research indicates that nightmares may serve a beneficial function as there is a positive relationship between nightmares and “waking” coping strategies. As a result, nightmares may fit into a continuity of coping throughout the sleep/wake cycle. In the present analysis, the relationship between nightmares and one measure of coping was only significant for those who identified themselves as Asian when compared those who identified themselves as Caucasian. These results represent one of the first differences in nightmares between ethnic groups. Such research is important for understanding the role of idiopathic nightmares in coping and understanding the importance of ethnicity when presented with patients complaining of nightmares.