Prevalence Rates of Frequent Dream Recall and Nightmares by Age, Gender and Sleep Duration in 16 Countries

Authors

• Courtney J. Bolstad, Birmingham VA Health Care System
• Bjørn Bjorvatn, University of Bergen
• Ngan Yin Chan, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
• Frances Chung, University of Toronto
• Yves Dauvilliers, University of Montpellier
• Luigi De Gennaro, University of Rome
• Colin A. Espie, University of Oxford
• Brigitte Holzinger, Institute of Consciousness and Dream Research
• Yuichi Inoue, Tokyo Medical University
• Maria Korman, Ariel University
• Adrijana Koscec Bjelajac, Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health
• Anne-Marie Landtblom, Uppsala University
• Tainá Macêdo, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte
• Kentaro Matsui, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry
• Ilona Merikanto, University of Helsinki
• Charles M. Morin, Laval University
• Sérgio Mota-Rolim, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte
• Thomas Penzel, Charite-Universitätsmedizin Berlin
• Giuseppe Plazzi, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia
• Cátia Reis, Universidade Católica Portuguesa
• Serena Scarpelli, University of Rome
• Yun Kwok Wing, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
• Michael R. Nadorff, Mississippi State University

ORCID

Bolstad: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2297-2778; Bjorvatn: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7051-745X; Chan: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3009-3565; Chung: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9576-3606; Dauvilliers: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0683-6506; De Gennaro: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3613-6631; Espie: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1294-8734; Holzinger: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5385-4091; Inoue: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7414-9017; Korman: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1895-0189; Bjelajac: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0547-0047; Landtblom: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9567-470X; Matsui: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4538-5381; Merikanto: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1222-6678; Morin: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8649-8895; Mota-Rolim: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0196-5421; Penzel: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4304-0112; Plazzi: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1051-0472; Reis: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6585-3993; Scarpelli: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9260-7111; Wing: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5745-5474

MSU Affiliation

College of Arts and Sciences; Department of Psychology

Creation Date

2026-06-30

Abstract

The present study aimed to describe the prevalence rates of frequent (i.e., at least weekly) dream recall and nightmares with consideration for differences in age, gender and sleep duration in 16 countries using equivalent assessment methods. The study sample included 15,854 participants (69.9% women) aged 18-99 years (M = 42.39, SD = 16.43) collected by the International COVID-19 Sleep Study collaboration, which used a unified online survey to collect data from May to November 2021 across 16 countries. Participants provided demographic information as well as self-reported estimates of their dream recall and nightmare frequency and sleep duration in 2021 and retrospectively for 2019. Frequent dream recall occurred in 54.0% of participants in 2021 and 51.1% in 2019. Frequent nightmares were reported by 11.0% of participants in 2021 and 6.9% in 2019. Ad hoc regression models found dream recall and sleep duration to have a linear relation, whereas nightmare frequency demonstrated a quadratic relation to sleep duration. Frequent dream recall and nightmare prevalence rates are reported for each of the 16 study countries by age, gender and sleep duration. This is the first multi-continent study to estimate frequent dream recall and nightmare prevalence, which both provides updated prevalence rates during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as extends existing knowledge to previously never studied countries.

Publication Date

4-23-2025

Publication Title

Journal of Sleep Research

Publisher

Wiley

Rights

© 2025 The Author(s)

Recommended Citation

Bolstad, C. J. , B. Bjorvatn , N. Y. Chan , et al. 2026. “Prevalence Rates of Frequent Dream Recall and Nightmares by Age, Gender and Sleep Duration in 16 Countries.” Journal of Sleep Research35, no. 1: e70070. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.70070.