Nightmare frequency in sexual assault survivors with PTSD

Sexual assault survivors with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were assessed for frequency of nightmares, measured retrospectively on the Nightmare Frequency Questionnaire (NFQ) and prospectively on nightmare dream logs (NLOG). Retrospective frequency was extremely high, averaging occurrences e...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of anxiety disorders 2002, Vol.16 (2), p.175-190
Main Authors: Krakow, Barry, Schrader, Ron, Tandberg, Dan, Hollifield, Michael, Koss, Mary P, Yau, C.Lillian, Cheng, Diana T
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Anxiety
Biological and medical sciences
Depression
Dreams - psychology
Female
Humans
Medical sciences
New Mexico
Nightmares
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Prospective Studies
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychometrics. Diagnostic aid systems
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Rape - psychology
Reproducibility of Results
Retrospective Studies
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - diagnosis
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - etiology
Surveys and Questionnaires
Techniques and methods
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Sexual assault survivors with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were assessed for frequency of nightmares, measured retrospectively on the Nightmare Frequency Questionnaire (NFQ) and prospectively on nightmare dream logs (NLOG). Retrospective frequency was extremely high, averaging occurrences every other night and an estimated number of nightmares greater than five per week. Test–retest reliability data on the NFQ yielded weighted kappa coefficients of .85 (95% CI, .74–.95) for nights and .90 (95% CI, .83–.97) for nightmares. Correlations between retrospective and prospective nightmare frequencies ranged between .53 ( P=.001) for nights and .63 ( P=.001) for nightmares. Correlations between frequency and distress measures (anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress) yielded coefficients ranging from ( r=.28–.53). Compared with intrusive, cumbersome and time-consuming prospective measurements, the NFQ appears reliable, convenient, and equally useful in assessing nightmare frequency in a group of sexual assault survivors. Nightmare frequency, prevalence, distress and impairment are discussed.
ISSN:0887-6185
1873-7897
DOI:10.1016/S0887-6185(02)00093-2