DREAMS AND ADJUSTMENT FOLLOWING MARITAL SEPARATION: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE FUNCTION OF DREAMING
By Sandra Sacre Bachelor of Social Science (Psychology) Bachelor of Psychology (Honours)
A Thesis Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Queensland University of Technology School of Psychology and Counselling, Faculty of Health Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation 2006
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation ii
KEYWORDS
Dream Function; Dream Theory; Marital Separation; Emotional Adjustment; Emotional Adaptation; Cognitive Theories of Dreaming; Continuity Theory; Problem-Solving; Functional Theories of Dreaming; Adjustment; Personality; Coping Style.
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ABSTRACT Arguably the most popular current theories of dreaming are the functional theories, including the emotional adaptation or problem-solving theory. These theories revolve around the idea that dreams may serve an independent adaptive function, helping us to adjust to, cope with, or resolve emotionally difficult life circumstances, problems and concerns. Contrary to these theories, other researchers have argued that dreams may have no function of their own, but are an epiphenomenon of REM sleep. The cognitive theories of dreaming suggest that dream content is continuous with waking concerns and preoccupations, and that dreaming about waking concerns is not adaptive but reflective, in a similar way that waking thought or daydreaming is reflective, of what is uppermost in the mind of the dreamer. A relatively small body of research (e.g., Barrett, 1993; Cartwright, 1991; Kramer, 1993) relating to individuals who have experienced major stressful life events, is often cited as support for the theory that dreams serve the specific function of helping us to adjust or adapt to current events. Until recently, this body of work has gone largely unexamined and unreplicated, though some have questioned the findings and their implications for the function of dreaming.
The research presented in this thesis examined whether dream content reflects a process of adjustment in people who had recently experienced a marital separation, by investigating the relationship between their dream content in relation to measures of adjustment over time. In Study 1, 97 recently separated participants and 93 married controls were tested on personality and coping factors, asked to answer questions about their dream content, and then monitored over 12 months for change in their adjustment. In Study 2, a subset of 42 separated participants kept dream logs for a period of four weeks. Their dream reports were subjected to a qualitative analysis of thematic content, including threat and threat mastery, and analyses were conducted to explore the relationship between threat content, mastery and adjustment. In Study 3, a subset of eight Study 2 participants Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation iv
participated in a case study analysis which investigated contextual information about their individual situations in relation to their dream content and adjustment, in order to explore, in a more detailed way, the relationship between dream themes, adjustment, and waking concerns. Study 4 was designed to compare the findings of the previous studies with a separate sample, using three different methodologies for the collection of dream content data. This study was carried out to replicate the previous studies with the addition of a laboratory-based data collection technique. In Study 4, 18 separated participants spent one night in the sleep laboratory, monitored with a Nightcap, which allowed dream data to be collected from them via questionnaires, dream logs, and REM awakenings.
Across all of the studies, and regardless of the method used to measure dream recall and content, there was a significant concurrent relationship between better adjustment and fewer dreams relating to participants’ marital situations. Those with the most distress were the same ones who were dreaming excessively about their separation. These findings suggest that dreams are continuous with waking preoccupation, and do not function to aid adjustment. As such, they did not support the functional adaptation theories of dreaming. The findings were more consistent with the cognitive theories of dreaming, including the theory that dreams have meaning, but no independent function of their own. A significant relationship was, however, found between ego strength, coping style and adjustment, highlighting the greater influence of internal personal resources in adjusting to difficult life circumstances. While these findings do not discount the suggestion that individuals derive significant personal meaning from their dreams, nor the possibility that dreams may reflect something of the function of REM sleep, they do suggest that “adaptationist” assumptions of functional theories of dreaming may be unfounded. Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation v
TABLE OF CONTENTS KEYWORDS ...... ii ABSTRACT...... iii TABLE OF CONTENTS...... v LIST OF FIGURES ...... xi LIST OF TABLES ...... xii STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP ...... xv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... xvi CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION...... 1 Background to the Research...... 2 The Problem of Dream Function...... 3 How Can the Question of Dream Function be Studied?...... 5 What Can Dream Content in the Maritally Separated Reveal About Dream Function?...... 9 Outline of This Report ...... 11 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ...... 12 The Relationship Between Dreaming and REM Sleep...... 13 Theories of Dreaming ...... 17 Historical Theories ...... 18 Psychodynamic Theory ...... 18 Random Brainstem Activation Theory ...... 20 Reverse Learning Theory ...... 22 Functional Theories ...... 22 Problem-Solving Theories...... 22 Threat Simulation and Rehearsal Theory ...... 36 Cognitive Theories ...... 38 Continuity and Repetition Theory ...... 38 Meaning Without Function Theory ...... 42 Dreams and Emotional Adjustment to Marital Separation ...... 43 Personality Variables and Adjustment...... 47 Ego Strength...... 47 Boundary Thickness ...... 49 Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation vi
Coping Style ...... 50 Limitations of Previous Research ...... 51 Aims of Current Research...... 52 Research Questions and Hypotheses...... 54 Design of the Research...... 55 CHAPTER THREE: STUDY ONE...... 59 Rationale for Study One...... 61 Study Design ...... 68 Method ...... 69 Participants...... 69 Study Participation Effects...... 73 Attrition ...... 73 Materials ...... 75 Dreams and Sleep ...... 75 Personality Variables...... 77 Adjustment...... 80 Study Participation Effects...... 83 Design ...... 83 Procedure...... 84 Results...... 85 Data Cleaning and Screening...... 85 Sleep Length...... 87 Dream Content...... 87 Differences Between Separated and Married Participants ...... 87 Adjustment Over Time...... 87 Satisfaction With Life and Depression...... 88 Self-Rated Adjustment and Impact of Event (Separated Participants Only) ...... 88 Correlations Between Personality, Sleep and Dream Variables and Adjustment...... 91 Prediction of Initial Adjustment...... 96 Prediction of Adjustment Over Time...... 100 Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation vii
Prediction of Depression Over Time in Depressed and Non-Depressed Separated Participants...... 101 Chapter Discussion...... 103 Summary and Conclusions...... 107 CHAPTER FOUR: STUDY TWO ...... 109 Rationale for Study Two ...... 111 Study Design ...... 112 Method ...... 113 Participants...... 113 Materials ...... 115 Dream Diaries...... 115 Procedure...... 116 Results...... 117 Number of Diary Reports...... 117 Number of Inclusions of Ex-Spouse/Separation...... 117 Threat Theme Incorporation and Threat Mastery ...... 118 Relationship Between Diary Inclusions and Adjustment ...... 120 Relationship Between Threat Dreams and Adjustment...... 122 Prediction of Depression ...... 124 The Importance of Personal Dream Meanings...... 125 Thematic Commonalities...... 127 Theme of Ambivalence About Ex-Spouse...... 128 Theme of Loss of Control and Disaster ...... 129 Theme of Sexual Attraction and Social Success...... 129 Theme of Exposure, Vulnerability, and Confusion ...... 130 Theme of Anxiety About Children ...... 130 Theme of Loss / Being Lost ...... 131 Theme of Loss of Security and Support...... 131 Theme of Interpersonal Conflict With Ex-Spouse...... 132 Theme of Sexual and Social Rejection ...... 132 Survival Theme...... 133 Theme of Cleaning Up or Covering Up a Mess...... 133 Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation viii
Theme of Repair, Renovation and Building...... 133 Brushes with Fame Theme ...... 134 Wedding and Wedding Ring Theme ...... 134 Past Relationship Theme...... 135 Chapter Discussion...... 135 CHAPTER FIVE: STUDY THREE ...... 140 Rationale for Case Studies ...... 141 Method ...... 143 Participants...... 143 Materials ...... 144 Circumstances of Separation Survey ...... 144 Dream Diaries...... 144 Procedure...... 144 Results...... 145 Presentation of the Data ...... 145 Analytic Strategy...... 146 Individual Case Studies...... 147 Positive Adjustment Cases ...... 147 Case Study 1: Jane...... 147 Case Study 2: Vera...... 154 Case Study 3: Roz ...... 161 Case Study 4: Louise...... 165 Negative Adjustment Cases...... 169 Case Study 5: Pricilla ...... 169 Case Study 6: Teresa...... 176 Case Study 7: Karen ...... 181 Case Study 8: Maree ...... 188 Chapter Discussion...... 191 CHAPTER SIX: STUDY FOUR...... 194 Rationale for Study Four...... 196 Method ...... 198 Participants...... 198 Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation ix
Materials ...... 199 Questionnaires and Dream Diaries ...... 199 Dream Content...... 199 Apparatus...... 199 REMview Sleep Assessment Device ...... 199 Mini-Disc Recorder...... 201 Procedure...... 201 Questionnaires and Dream Diaries ...... 201 Sleep Laboratory Procedure...... 201 Results...... 204 Data Cleaning and Screening...... 204 Dream Recall By Questionnaire, Diary, and Laboratory Awakening...... 204 Inclusion Recall By Questionnaire, Diary, and Laboratory Awakening .... 205 Adjustment Over Time...... 206 Correlations Between Inclusions and Adjustment ...... 206 Relationship Between REM Latency and Adjustment...... 208 Differences Between Incorporators and Non-Incorporators...... 208 Differences Between Remitters and Non-Remitters...... 208 Chapter Discussion...... 211 Influence of Methodology on Recall ...... 211 Dream Content as a Characteristic of Individuals’ Adjustment...... 212 Remission from Depression ...... 212 The Importance of REM Latency in Relation to Adjustment ...... 213 Summary and Conclusions...... 214 CHAPTER SEVEN: DISCUSSION...... 216 Summary of Major Findings ...... 217 Relationship Between Dreams, Personality, and Adjustment...... 219 Differences Between Married and Separated Participants ...... 222 The Influence of Dream Data Collection Techniques...... 222 Sleep Loss...... 224 Nightmare Frequency and Distress ...... 224 Case Study Data, Situational Factors and Adjustment...... 225 Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation x
Strengths and Limitations of the Research...... 226 Future Research Directions...... 229 Implications of the Research for Theory...... 230 The Healing Effect of Time – A Function of REM Sleep?...... 232 Clinical Implications of the Research ...... 234 Therapeutic Value of Dream Diary Keeping ...... 235 What Dream Content May Reveal About Adjustment...... 235 Significance of Shortened REM Latency...... 236 Chapter Discussion...... 237 Summary...... 238 REFERENCES...... 241 APPENDIX...... 274 Scales And Materials Utilised In The Studies...... 274 Boundary Questionnaire (Short Form) (BQ18) ...... 275 Nightmare Scale...... 277 Impact Of Event Scale – Revised (IES-R)...... 279 Brief COPE Scale...... 281 Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) ...... 284 Ego Strength Subscale Of The MMPI-2...... 285 Depression, Anxiety And Stress Scales (DASS) ...... 286 Study Participation Scale ...... 289 Global Concerns Scale...... 291
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LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1: Flowchart of Design and Stages of the Research Project ……… 58 Figure 3.1: Satisfaction With Life at Initial Testing, Three Months, and 12 Months……………………………………………………………… 89 Figure 3.2: Level of Depression at Initial Testing, Three Months, and 12 Months……………………………………………………………… 90 Figure 3.3: Self-Rated Adjustment at Initial testing, Three Months, and 12 Months (Separated Participants)…………………………………… 90 Figure 3.4: Impact of Event at Initial testing, Three Months, and 12 Months (Separated Participants)…………………………………………….. 91 Figure 6.1: Nightcap REMview Apparatus………………………………… 200 Figure 6.2: Sleep Laboratory: Participants’ Sleeping Room……………….. 202 Figure 6.3: Sleep Laboratory: Observation Room………………………….. 204
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LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1: Design of Data Collection for Study 1………………………….. 70 Table 3.2: Participation at Initial Testing, After Three Months, and After 12 Months………………………………….…...…………………... 73 Table 3.3: Differences Between Married and Separated Participants on Dream, Sleep, and Personality Variables………………..…………. 86 Table 3: 4 Bivariate Correlations Between Personality Variables and Sleep and Dream Variables Amongst Married (N =93 , Below Diagonal) and Separated (N =97 , Above Diagonal) Group…………..………. 92 Table 3.5: Bivariate Correlations Between Personality Variables and Adjustment in Married (Below Diagonal) and Separated (Above Diagonal) Participants……………………….……………………… 93 Table 3.6: Bivariate Correlations Between Sleep and Dream Variables and Adjustment in Married (Below Diagonal) and Separated (Above Diagonal) Participants……………………………….……………… 94 Table 3.7: Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analyses Predicting Initial Adjustment from Dreams of Ex-Spouse / Separation and Personality Variables in Separated Participants.….……..…………. 97 Table 3.8: Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analyses Predicting Adjustment at Three-Month Follow-Up, from Initial Adjustment, Personality Variables, and Dreams of Ex-Spouse / Separation, in Separated Participants.………………………………………..…….. 98 Table 3.9: Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analyses Predicting Adjustment at Twelve-Month Follow-Up, from Initial Adjustment, Personality Variables, and Dreams of Ex-Spouse / Separation, Separated Participants.………………………………………...……. 99 Table 4.1: Design of Data Collection for Study 2………………………….. 113 Table 4.2: Adjustment Differences Between Dream Diarists (Study 2 Subset) and Non-Diarists…………………………………………… 114 Table 4.3: Correlations Between Diary Inclusions, Threat Dreams, Threat Mastery and Adjustment in Separated Dream Diarists………...…… 123 Table 4.4: Common Themes in the Diary-Recorded Dreams of Separated Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation xiii
Participants, in Order of Frequency………………………………… 128 Table 5.1: Quantitative Data For Jane ……………………………………... 148 Table 5.2: Comparison of Jane with Diarist Group Overall…………..……. 148 Table 5.3: Dream Diary Theme Summary For Jane…………….…………. 148 Table 5.4: Dream Diary Themes and Examples for Jane….……………….. 149 Table 5.5: Quantitative Data For Vera……………………………………… 155 Table 5.6: Comparison of Vera with Diarist Group Overall …. 155 Table 5.7: Dream Diary Theme Summary For Vera………………………... 155 Table 5.8: Dream Diary Themes and Examples for Vera…………………... 156 Table 5.9: Quantitative Data For Roz….…………………………………… 161 Table 5.10: Comparison of Roz with Diarist Group Overall……………… 162 Table 5.11: Dream Diary Theme Summary For Roz….…………….……... 162 Table 5.12: Dream Diary Themes and Examples for Roz………….……… 162 Table 5.13: Quantitative Data For Louise………………………………….. 166 Table 5.14: Comparison of Louise with Diarist Group Overall…………… 166 Table 5.15: Dream Diary Theme Summary For Louise……………………. 166 Table 5.16: Dream Diary Themes and Examples for Louise………………. 167 Table 5.17: Quantitative Data For Pricilla…………………………………. 169 Table 5.18: Comparison of Pricilla with Diarist Group Overall…………… 170 Table 5.19: Dream Diary Theme Summary For Pricilla…………………… 170 Table 5.20: Dream Diary Themes and Examples for Pricilla……………… 170 Table 5.21: Quantitative Data For Teresa………………………………...… 176 Table 5.22: Comparison of Teresa with Diarist Group Overall……………. 177 Table 5.23: Dream Diary Theme Summary For Teresa…………………….. 177 Table 5.24: Dream Diary Themes and Examples for Teresa……………….. 177 Table 5.25: Quantitative Data For Karen…………………………………... 181 Table 5.26: Comparison of Karen with Diarist Group Overall 182 Table 5.27: Dream Diary Theme Summary For Karen…………………….. 182 Table 5.28: Dream Diary Themes and Examples for Karen……………….. 182 Table 5.29: Quantitative Data For Maree..………………………..………... 188 Table 5.30: Comparison of Maree with Diarist Group Overall……………. 188 Table 5.31: Dream Diary Theme Summary For Maree..…………...………. 189 Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation xiv
Table 5.32: Dream Diary Themes and Examples for Maree..……………... 189 Table 6.1: Mean Dream Recall and Recall of Inclusions x Dream Collection Method (n=18)………………………………………….. 205 Table 6.2: Means and Standard Deviations for Initial and Two-Month Follow-up Measures of Adjustment, and t values for differences between Means (n=18)…………………..…………………………. 206 Table 6.3: Correlations between Dream Inclusions of Ex-Spouse or Separation (Measured by Questionnaire, Dream Diary, and REM Awakenings), REM Latency, Nightmare Frequency and Distress, and Adjustment (n=18)……………………………………………... 207 Table 6.4: Differences Between Incorporators and Non-Incorporators……. 209 Table 6.5: Differences Between Remitters and Non-Remitters……………. 210
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STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP
The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted to meet requirements of an award at this or any other higher education institution. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made.
Signed: ______
Date: ______
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation xvi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
As anyone who has ever completed a work of research such as this knows, it is never an individual effort and I have many to thank for their assistance, advice, and support. I would firstly like to thank my principal supervisor, Adjunct Professor Kathryn Gow, who has been unstinting in her encouragement and patient guidance, generously giving of her time whenever needed and tactfully spurring me on when I needed motivating. She has been a wonderful role model and taught me a great deal about a great many things. I am also indebted to my co- supervisor, Dr Julie Hansen, whose infinite wisdom has been invaluable and reassuring. Many thanks also to my long-distance co-supervisor, Dr Mark Blagrove, who has provided sound advice and inspiration at crucial points along the way.
I would like to thank Professor Ross Young and my colleagues at the School of Psychology and Counselling and the Faculty of Health, for their practical support and interest in my research. Many thanks to my friend and colleague, Susi Wise for her help with the final editing of this thesis, as well as moral support throughout my candidature. I must also express my appreciation to my friends and extended family for their ongoing encouragement and belief in me. I would particularly like to thank my parents for allowing me to follow my own path and providing me with the best education that they could afford. Special thanks are also due to my dear friend, Patrick McGurrin, who has believed in my abilities all these years and never doubted that I would achieve my goals.
My husband, Gary, and son, Eddie, have lived and breathed this research project alongside me for these past few years, and for that they deserve my most heartfelt thanks. They have sacrificed a good deal in order that I could succeed in completing this project, and I will be forever thankful for their selflessness, patience, love and support. Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 1
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
DREAMS AND ADJUSTMENT FOLLOWING MARITAL SEPARATION: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE FUNCTION OF DREAMING
Chapter Contents
Background to the Research The Problem of Dream Function How Can the Question of Dream Function be Studied? What Can Dream Content in the Maritally Separated Reveal About Dream Function? Outline of This Report
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 2
Background to the Research
Dreams, along with their origins and meanings, have preoccupied humankind since the earliest times. For many ancient societies, including the Greeks, Sumerians, Egyptians, and Babylonians, dreams were of great significance, and important decisions were based upon their interpretation (Lavie, 1996; Noegel, 2001; Szpakowska, 2001). Dreams have performed an important role in the religious traditions of Islam (Hermansen, 2001), Buddhism (Young, 2001), and Christianity (Noegel, 2001). Even today, many tribal societies regard dreams as central to their understanding of the world and their place in it (Graham, 1995; Gregor, 1981; Irwin, 1994, 2001; Lohmann, 2001; Wax, 2004). Interest in dreams and their meaning has hardly waned in Western societies either, where many individuals continue to enjoy sharing their dreams and pondering their significance with others (Grace, 2001; Stewart, 2004).
In ancient Greece, when the prevailing theory was that dreams were messages from the gods, even Aristotle questioned this idea and suggested that dreams might be “motions of the senses” (Strauch & Meier, 1996). Scientific dream research began with the systematic observation of dreams by Maury (1865) and Hervey de Saint-Denys (1867), but it was not until the mid 1900s that true empirical dream research was conducted. Dreams have been ascribed every imaginable capacity from foretelling the future to detailing past lives, but it was the advent of the sleep laboratory and the discovery in 1953 of REM sleep (Aserinsky & Kleitman, 1953) that brought the study of dreaming into the scientific realm. Today, theories about the organisation, structure and function of dreaming are able to be based upon empirical data which is systematically collected (Purcell, Moffitt & Hoffmann, 1993).
Dreams are different from waking consciousness and cognition, and for the most part, we do not direct or control the events that take place in our dreams. Unlike fantasies or daydreams, dreams happen to us, rather than as a direct result of our own will (Empson, 2002). While logic is suspended in our dreams, we tend not to reflect or evaluate the impossibility of dream events while dreaming. In Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 3
fact, we do not even seem to be aware that the events are dreamed, and not real. We unconsciously and unknowingly create these nightly hallucinations, and yet cannot predict or anticipate their content, nor explain how or why we produce them.
Content analyses have shown striking continuity between dream content and waking life (Hall & Nordby, 1972) and dreams have been shown to dramatise individuals’ waking emotional preoccupations (e.g. Cartwright, Lloyd, Knight, & Trenholme, 1984; Domhoff, 1996; Hartmann, 1996a; Trenholme, Cartwright, & Greenberg, 1984; Wilmer, 1996). It is now generally agreed that dreams do reflect waking emotional concerns and therefore frequently have significant meaning for the dreamer.
The Problem of Dream Function
The question of dream function is one that has both fascinated the public and perplexed dream researchers for decades. After Aserinsky and Kleitman’s (1953) landmark discovery of REM sleep and Dement and Kleitman’s (1957) discovery of REM sleep’s relationship to dreaming, it finally seemed that important questions about the biology and nature of dreaming might be answered (Hartmann, 1998b). However, a complete understanding of the phenomenon of dreaming has proved somewhat elusive, and the subjective nature of dreams made them awkward to study and measure. While increasingly sophisticated methods in the fields of neuropsychology, cognitive science, and neurophysiology have brought new perspectives to the study of dreaming (Antrobus, 1993), many methodological difficulties remain in studying the very personal and subjective phenomenon of dreams.
Many theories of dream function have been advanced, including the theory that dreaming may have no specialised function at all (Antrobus, 1993; Blagrove, 1991, 1992a, 1996; Domhoff, 2000a, 2001a; Flanagan, 2000; Foulkes, 1985, 1993, 1999; Kleitman, 1982). Theories about the origins and purpose of dreams abounded for centuries, but it was Freud who first popularised an interest in dream Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 4
function and interpretation. Since Freud published The Interpretation of Dreams (1900), dreams came to be viewed as meaningful psychological phenomena.
Many divergent theories of adaptive dream function have been developed and it has been argued that dreams may function to: permit access to wider knowledge, old information and coping strategies (Koukkou & Lehman, 1993); facilitate adaptation to stressful events (Cartwright & Lamberg, 1992; Stewart & Koulack, 1993); connect thoughts and memories in unique and novel ways (Hartmann, 1991); solve problems (Hill, Diemer, Hess, Hillyer, & Seeman, 1993) and simulate threatening situations to allow the rehearsal of appropriate responses (Revonsuo, 2000). In the same vein, it has been argued (e.g., Breger, 1967; French & Fromm, 1964; Greenberg, Pearlman, Fingar, Kantrowitz & Kawliche, 1970; Hartmann, 1995, 1996b, 1998a,b; Jones, 1962; Kramer, 1991, 1993) that dreams function to help us adapt and adjust to the stresses and traumas of life, perhaps by linking current emotional concerns to information held in long-term memory. Underlying these theories is the idea that through the dreaming process, individuals are somehow able to integrate emotional experiences with similar material in memory, in an effort to master and perhaps resolve emotional issues (Koulack, 1993). Hartmann (1998b) has suggested that dreaming allows us to make pictured metaphors of our emotional concerns and thus, make broad neural connections that integrate new with old memory material, to help us to adapt to future trauma and stress.
In contrast to those who support the idea that dreams serve an emotional adjustment function, others (e.g., Antrobus, 1993; Blagrove, 1991, 1992a, 1996; Domhoff, 2000a, 2001a; Flanagan, 2000; Foulkes, 1985, 1993, 1999; Kleitman, 1982) have held that dreams may have no specific function of their own, but may simply be artefactual noise, a by-product, or an epiphenomenon of some of the cognitive processes taking place during sleep, particularly REM sleep. Kleitman (1982) has argued that dreams are a by-product of REM sleep, stimulated by the high level of arousal of the cerebral cortex that characterises this stage of sleep. None of these authors, however, argue that dreaming is complete nonsense, without any value to the dreamer whatsoever. Rather, they suggest that dreams Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 5
may be meaningful, revealing, and self-expressive reflections of our inner emotional concerns, and yet still not perform any particular adaptive function of their own. No matter how profound or useful dreams may be to individual dreamers, any such attributed meaning does not prove function, adaptive or otherwise (Blagrove, 1992a).
How Can the Question of Dream Function be Studied?
If dreaming does indeed have a function of its own, then this would mean that it has some helpful, instrumental value to the dreamer, that confers upon them an advantage or benefit (Antrobus, 1993). Furthermore, if particular types of dreams, or dreams containing certain elements were indicative of a specific function of dreams, then a preponderance of these themes or elements ought to correlate with outcomes that reflect effective functioning. There are several different kinds of studies that can be, and have been, used to chip away at the perplexing question of dream function, the main ones being: natural studies of “non-dreamers”; dream deprivation studies; pre-sleep manipulation and stimulation studies; and natural studies of normal and clinical populations.
Natural studies of non-dreamers have focussed on the study of people who, as a result of brain injury or insult, have lost the ability to dream (e.g., Bischof & Bassetti, 2004; Frank, 1946, 1950; Jus et al., 1973; Partridge, 1950; Piehler, 1950; Schindler, 1953; Solms, 1997) Such studies have provided evidence that REM sleep is not sufficient for dreaming to occur and dreaming is a complex behaviour involving several brain centres (Solms, 2000). While brain lesions affect dreaming cognition and behaviour in a way that parallels their effects upon waking cognition and behaviour, there is nothing in the results of these studies to suggest that dreaming loss itself resulted in any waking deficits or the loss of any specific adaptive functions or behaviours (Solms, 2000).
While a significant number of people claim to never dream, most, when submitted to laboratory recordings and REM sleep awakenings, do in fact report dreams on almost half of occasions (Goodenough, Shapiro, Holden & Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 6
Steinschriber, 1959). Thus, they tend mostly to be people who simply have low dream recall upon natural awakening. However, there are also people who, as a result of brain injury or insult, do seem to lose the ability to dream. Solms (1997) studied 112 patients with focal forebrain lesions who reported that they had lost the ability to dream, some temporarily and some permanently. Most of these patients had suffered damage to one or both of the parietal lobes, and some had bilateral lesions in the white matter near the frontal horns of the lateral ventricles. Solms (1997) also drew on earlier studies (Frank, 1946, 1950; Jus et al., 1973; Partridge, 1950; Piehler, 1950; Schindler, 1953) of patients who had undergone orbitomesial prefrontal leucotomy, 70-90% of whom had completely, or almost completely, lost dreaming ability. In the Jus et al. (1973) study, dreaming loss was confirmed with REM awakenings in the sleep laboratory. In both the Jus et al. (1973) study and the Solms (1997) study, the dreamless patients had preserved REM sleep, which would seem to provide evidence that REM sleep is not sufficient for dreaming to occur.
Depending upon the location of the lesion, the patients suffered from waking deficits that paralleled the deficits in their dream lives. Those who lost the experience of dreaming due to damage to the parietal lobes, specifically in the region of the parieto-temporo-occipital junction, also declined in their visuospatial abilities and capacity for mental imagery. Those who lost dreaming due to damage to the ventromesial quadrant of the frontal lobes suffered reduced initiative, imagination, interest, and planning ability. Those who lost visual imagery in dreams due to injury to the visual association cortex also suffered problems with waking mental imagery. Similarly, Solms (1997) reported that patients who suffered brain damage resulting in the loss of colour vision also reported loss of colour vision in their dreams, and patients who suffered prosopagnosia (inability to recognise familiar faces) reported faceless characters in their dreams. In those cases, where the lesions healed, dreaming returned simultaneously with a return of those specific functions (Solms, 1997). Thus, it seems that the loss of dreaming itself does not result in waking deficits, but brain lesions affect dreaming cognition and behaviour in a way that parallels their Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 7
effects upon waking cognition and behaviour. There is nothing in the results of these studies to suggest that dreaming loss itself resulted in the loss of any specific adaptive functions or behaviours.
Dream deprivation studies have proved to be difficult to conduct due to a combination of three main methodological problems. Firstly, although dreaming is most characteristic of REM sleep, it is not exclusively confined to any particular stage of sleep and has been reported to occur in non-REM sleep, at sleep onset, and even in quiet waking. This means that it is virtually impossible to deprive people of dreaming altogether, and REM sleep deprivation is an inadequate test of the effects of dream loss (Empson, 2002). It has been well established that dreaming can occur in the absence of REM sleep, and that REM sleep can occur without dreaming (Foulkes, 1962; Hobson, 1988; Solms, 2000; Vogel, 1978). Secondly, even if we were to assume that selectively depriving people of REM sleep would result in a significant deprivation of the ability to dream, it would also deprive subjects of other possible functions of REM sleep, of which there well may be many. In other words, while dreaming occurs mostly during REM sleep, deprivation of REM sleep may well be (and most likely is) deprivation of more than dreaming alone.
The third problem with depriving people of sleep completely, or of REM sleep selectively, is that, in practice, it is actually impossible to do for more than a few days at a time. After about three to five nights of selective REM sleep deprivation, the (presumably biological) pressure in humans for REM sleep becomes so great that eventually REM sleep deprivation can only be achieved through total sleep deprivation (Dement, 1999; Lavie, 1996). By the fifth night, subjects immediately enter REM sleep as soon as they are allowed to go back to sleep, so that the selective deprivation of REM sleep becomes virtually an impossibility (Lavie, 1996). Even so, the findings of selective REM sleep deprivation studies have been very mixed.
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 8
Pre-sleep manipulation and stimulation studies have focussed on investigating which types of waking experience tend to find their way into dreams. Experiments involving pre-sleep manipulations included inducing hunger (Keys, 1986) and thirst (Bokert, 1968; Dement & Wolpert, 1958); stressful intellectual activity (Cohen & Cox, 1975; Koulack, Prevost & De Koninck, 1985); and experiments involving pre-sleep stimulation included showing subjects violent or disturbing films prior to bedtime (Foulkes & Rechtschaffen, 1964). Results from these studies were mixed, the main consistency being that dreams were most likely to be related to the pre-sleep manipulations and stimulations, when issues of personal and emotional significance were aroused by the pre-sleep stimuli (Empson, 2002). The results of these studies were somewhat unpredictable and they showed only that dreams reflect waking emotional concerns.
Natural studies of normal populations have focussed on people who experienced stressful or traumatic events, such as major surgery (Breger, Hunter and Lane, 1971), personal trauma and assault (Brunkow, 1996; Germain, et al., 2004; Kroth, et al., 2004; Muller, 1996; Raymond, Nielsen, Lavigne & Choiniere, 2002; Stoddard, Chedekel & Shakun, 1996), war trauma (Esposito, Benitez, Barza & Mellman, 1999; Kramer, Schoen & Kinney, 1984; Mellman, 2000; Mellman, Nolan, Hebding, Kulick-Bell & Dominguez, 1997; Mellman, Ramsay & Fitzgerald, 1991; Ross, et al., 1994) or natural disasters (Punamaki, 1997, 1998; Siegel, 1996; Wood, Bootzin, Rosenhan, Nolen-Hoeksema & Jourden, 1992). Similarly, natural studies of clinical populations have focussed on patients with similar concerns or disorders. These studies found some common dreaming patterns, such as the tendency for traumatised individuals to incorporate traumatic life events in their dreams, often recurrently, and for this incorporation to increase waking distress (Zadra et al., 1997-1998). Another common pattern was a change over time from dream representations of actual traumatic events to more symbolic representations of evolving emotions in relation to the events, with a tendency for such nightmares to remind the dreamer of the trauma and revive the associated negative affect and distress (Hartmann, 1998a). Dreams were found to be Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 9
somewhat diagnostic in that they often reflected progress over time, in terms of the extent of the individual’s focus on the trauma.
What all of these studies tend to show is that dreams reflect the currently predominating emotional concerns of the dreamer, or group of dreamers. As such, they do not prove anything in relation to the function of dreams. They merely hint at the possibility of dreams being somehow related to a cognitive mechanism involved in emotional processing. Even if a functional value of dreaming could be shown, then this value may still be incidental to another more direct function of REM sleep (Antrobus, 2000).
What Can Dream Content in the Maritally Separated Reveal About Dream Function?
The results of the research on dreams of people experiencing stressful or traumatic life events have been mixed. Some results seem to suggest that dreams which relate to stressful events are symptomatic of greater distress, while other results suggest a relationship between dreams of the events and an improvement in psychological well-being. The re-experiencing of trauma in dreams, as in therapy, may or may not be helpful to the dreamer, and the repression or suppression of distressing material may or may not be adaptive (Blagrove, 1996).
A popular current theory of dream function is the problem-solving theory, which proposes that dreams function to help us solve waking problems, particularly those with an emotional focus. There have been some interesting studies, such as that by De Koninck (1996), which have shown correlations between dream incorporations of waking problems and adaptation to those problems. In his critique of dream theories, Domhoff (2003) has outlined several difficulties for emotional adjustment theories, including: people’s generally low recall of their dreams; the high proportion of dreams that seem to be unrelated to waking problems; and the concurrence of traumatic dream content and reduced wellbeing in PTSD sufferers. As Revonsuo (2000) has pointed out, healing dreams ought to comfort and calm us, rather than amplify our distress in relation Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 10
to traumatic experiences. Reliving such traumas and stresses does not seem to be what traumatised dreamers are most in need of (Revonsuo, 2000).
As will be detailed in Chapter 2, Cartwright and her colleagues (1991, 1992, 1996), in their research with people who had recently experienced marital separation, have shown a correlation between dreams of the stressor (the ex- spouse) and the amelioration of depressive symptoms after 12 months. The findings of Cartwright’s study is sometimes put forward by proponents of the theory of an emotional adjustment function of dreaming as evidence that dreams are performing the task of psychological healing. However, Domhoff (2003) has questioned the significance of Cartwright’s findings, pointing to methodological limitations in her studies. He suggests that “her claims would have to be replicated in new and larger studies before they could be taken seriously as a basis for theorising” (p.159). Blagrove (1992a) has also expressed uncertainty about the conclusions that are drawn from such studies. The literature review contained within this thesis will provide a critique of the emotional problem-solving paradigm in dream research.
This research project set out to investigate dream content in relation to adjustment patterns, at particular time points over a period of one year, of people who had recently experienced a marital separation. It aimed to ascertain whether or not dream content might predict levels of adjustment, as well as the potential mediating effect of personality factors and coping style on the relationship between dream content and adjustment. The question of whether separated individuals, who dream more frequently of their ex-spouse and separation would show more or less improved levels of adjustment, was tested. Adjustment was taken to be a multidimensional concept, and was measured across a range of variables including self-rated adjustment, depression, satisfaction with life, and impact of event.
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 11
Outline of This Report
The chapters of this thesis are organised in the following way: Chapter Two contains a full review of the literature pertaining to this research project and focuses on the major current theories of dream function. It then outlines what is known about the relationship between dreams and emotional adjustment in relation to traumatic events such as a marital separation, and goes on to discuss the importance of personality and other mediating factors in relation to emotional recovery from such events. Chapter 2 concludes with the outlining of the limitations of previous research, the aims and design of the current research project, followed by the research questions and hypotheses. In Chapter Three, the rationale, design, methodology and results of Study 1 are detailed. Study 1 was a longitudinal study that investigated the relationship between dream content, personality differences, and adjustment over a 12 month period, in both recently separated and married groups. Chapter Four provides the rationale, design, methodology and results of Study 2. Study 2 was a qualitative and quantitative study that examined the dream content of a subset of separated participants from Study 1. Chapter Five is then devoted to describing Study 3, where eight case studies, all taken from Study 2, were investigated in detail. The dream content of these individuals was studied for thematic patterns in relation to the context of their particular histories and adjustment outcomes. In Chapter Six, the rationale, design, methodology and results of Study 4 are provided. This study was a longitudinal one, which followed a small group of newly separated individuals over a period of two months after collecting their dream content via questionnaires, dream diaries, and REM sleep awakenings overnight in a sleep laboratory. Finally, in Chapter Seven, the findings of all of the studies are drawn together and discussed in relation to previous findings and prevailing theories of dream function. Limitations of the research are delineated and suggestions for future research in relation to dream function are indicated. Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 12
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
DREAMING, REM SLEEP, AND ADJUSTMENT FOLLOWING MARITAL SEPARATION
Chapter Contents The Relationship Between Dreaming and REM Sleep Theories of Dreaming Historical Theories Psychodynamic Theory Random Brainstem Activation Theory Reverse Learning Theory Functional Theories Problem-Solving Theory Threat Simulation and Rehearsal Theory Cognitive Theories Continuity and Repetition Theory Meaning Without Function Theory Dreams and Emotional Adjustment to Marital Separation Personality Variables and Adjustment Ego Strength Boundary Thickness Coping Style Limitations of Previous Research Aims of Current Research Research Questions and Hypotheses Design of Research
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 13
The Relationship Between Dreaming and REM Sleep
Like the waking state, Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep is most likely a very complex state of consciousness, which may serve many functions and facilitate many processes. Indeed, the available evidence suggests that, during REM sleep, the human brain utilises more energy than during the waking state (Baker & McGinty, 1979; Jouvet, 1999; Ramm & Frost, 1983).
In humans, the similarity between the electrical brain activity of REM sleep and that of waking is striking (Dement, 1972, 1999), with a predominance of high frequency, low amplitude waves. Motor commands are still generated at the cortical level during REM sleep, but they are not, for the most part, realised because of an inhibitory mechanism that blocks the activity of motor neurons in the spinal cord (Hobson, 1999). Although there are differences between individuals in how complete the resulting muscle atonia is, most skeletal muscle tone is considerably reduced, effectively paralysing the individual. Research involving the lesioning, in cats, of the inhibitory mechanisms in the brain stem that are responsible for this atonia (Henley & Morrison, 1969; Jouvet, 1965) resulted in behaviour resembling the acting out of “cat dreams”.
Several research findings suggest that REM sleep provides some sort of adaptive advantage. These include: the great difficulties encountered when experimental attempts are made to selectively deprive humans and other animals of REM sleep; the phenomenon of REM rebound following periods of REM deprivation; and the evolutionary evidence, suggesting that REM sleep has persisted in terrestrial mammalian species for at least 150 million years. In addition, hippocampal theta activity has been found to be common to both REM sleep and survival-salient waking activity in mammals generally, and both REM sleep and waking emotional arousal in humans. It would reflect a great inefficiency of evolutionary design, if the brain were not engaging in purposeful endeavours of some survival value during this very active stage of sleep (Antrobus, 1993). Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 14
Animal studies have demonstrated an important role of REM sleep in learning and memory formation (Bloch, Hennevin, & Leconte, 1979; McGrath & Cohen, 1978; Pearlman, 1979; Smith, 1985, 1995; Smith & Lapp, 1986; Smith & Rose, 1996), and some evidence has been found to suggest that the consolidation of complex, procedural human learning is facilitated by REM sleep (Smith, 1995; Smith & Whittaker, 1987; Walker, Liston, Hobson & Stickgold, 2002), although this has been disputed (e.g., Vertes and Eastman, 2000). More recently, evidence has been found to suggest that slow-wave sleep combined with subsequent REM sleep, may be required for the processing of procedural memories (Ambrosini & Giuditta, 20001; Ficca, Lombardo, Rossi & Salzarulo, 2000; Gais, Plihal, Wagner & Born, 2000; Stickgold, James & Hobson, 2000; Stickgold, Whidbee, Schirmer, Patel & Hobson, 2000).
Relative to other conscious states, the regional activation of specific brain areas during REM sleep suggests that motivational and emotional learning may be being processed during this stage of sleep (Hobson, Stickgold, & Pace-Schott, 1998; Stickgold et al., 2001). This may account for the psychological salience and intense emotionality of REM sleep dreams (Hobson, 1988; Hobson et al., 1998). The findings of neuroimaging studies, indicating preferential activation of limbic and paralimbic forebrain structures during REM sleep, are consistent with emotional learning (e.g. Maquet et al., 1996; Nofzinger et al., 1997), and imply that emotion may be fundamental to the construction of dream plots, rather than a product of them (Hobson et al., 2000). Processing of memories of socially salient emotional experiences is believed by several theorists to be an important function of REM sleep (e.g., Koulack, 1993; Kramer, 1993; Perlis & Nielsen, 1993). In addition, dream content seems to reflect much about the timing of REM processes, and several studies have provided evidence of a circaseptan rhythm in relation to dream memory access (Jouvet, 1979; Nielsen, 2004) and a circatrigintan rhythm in relation to emotional dream intensity in women (Hertz & Jensen, 1975; Swanson & Foulkes, 1967). Nevertheless, the relationship between the role of REM sleep in learning and memory and the function of dreaming remains unclear. Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 15
Although dreaming is more characteristic of REM sleep than of other sleep stages, dreams are not exclusively confined to any particular stage of sleep (Empson, 2002). It is now well documented that dream-like mentation can also take place in non-REM (NREM) sleep, at sleep onset, and even in relaxed waking states (Domhoff, 2005a; Foulkes, 1985; Foulkes & Vogel, 1965). Nevertheless, it is well established that dream recall is highest following awakening from REM sleep (around 81.8%), compared to non-REM sleep (around 42.5%) (Nielsen, 1999). Of course, it is possible, as Flanagan (2000) has suggested, that we dream continuously throughout all stages of sleep, but that amnesia for sleeping mentation is more likely in the deeper stages. Indeed there is abundant evidence that dreams occur even during general anaesthesia (Brandner, Blagrove, McCallum & Bromley, 1997; Hellwagner et al., 2003; Marsch, Schaefer, Tschan & Meier, 1992) and deep coma (Luthra & Donaldson, 1997), although memories of them tend to decay very rapidly.
Several dream researchers have argued that their neuroimaging and neurophysiological studies have shown that REM sleep dreaming is qualitatively, phenomenologically, and physiologically quite distinct from the mentation of other conscious states (Braun et al., 1997; Hobson, Pace-Schott, & Stickgold, 2000; Maquet et al., 1996; Nofzinger et al., 1997). In general, REM sleep dreaming is more visual, detailed, and narrative than the more thought-like mentation that can occur during non-REM sleep and even quiet waking. As distinct from non-REM sleep, REM sleep dreams have been noted by Hobson, Stickgold, and Pace-Schott (1998) to be characterised by the following distinctive formal features: sensorimotor hallucinations, bizarre imagery, narrative structure, intensified emotion, the delusional belief that one is awake, orientational instability, diminished self-reflective awareness, instinctual behaviours, attenuated volitional control, and poor memory. Domhoff (2003) has pointed out that such differences between REM sleep mentation and non-REM sleep mentation could be merely the result of dream length, since “longer reports are likely to have more of most things in them” (p. 61). Hobson (2002), however, asserts that REM sleep is unique in its characteristics because of its peculiar neurophysiology. Others Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 16
have shown that REM sleep dreams are also largely self-referent and dream events and locations are more commonly familiar than unfamiliar to the dreamer (Hall & Nordby, 1972).
While REM sleep may be the best substrate for vivid, complex, story-like dreams, and the dreams of this stage of sleep differ in these respects from most non-REM dreams; dreaming and REM sleep are nevertheless not the same behaviour. It has been well established that dreaming can occur in the absence of REM sleep, and that REM sleep can occur without dreaming (Foulkes, 1962; Hobson, 1988; Morel, Hoffmann & Moffitt, 1991; Solms, 2000; Vogel, 1978).
There is now some evidence that REM sleep may serve an important function in complex and procedural learning (Smith & Rose, 1996), insight in problem-solving (Luo & Niki, 2003; Stickgold, Hobson, Fosse & Fosse, 2001; Stickgold & Walker, 2004; Wagner, Gais, Haider, Verleger & Born, 2004), and the processing of emotionally influenced memories (Maquet et al., 1996; Nofzinger, et al., 2004; Nofzinger, Mintun, Wiseman, Kupfer, & Moore, 1997; Wagner, Gais & Born, 2001). In his detailed review of the possible links between REM sleep physiology and the actions of eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing therapy (EMDR), Stickgold (2002) has provided a model whereby REM sleep is optimally configured to enable a cortical integration of traumatic memories into semantic networks, potentially reducing the strength of traumatic, hippocampally mediated memories. The evidence regarding REM sleep function is actually a great deal clearer than that regarding dream function. This is due, at least in part, to the fact that REM sleep is a biological state that can be measured without any reliance upon memory or interruption of the state itself. Unlike dreaming, REM sleep does not tend to be interpreted or judged in the light of waking thought or belief systems (Antrobus, 1993).
What is known about the neurophysiology of REM sleep in fact reveals little of the function of dreaming, or indeed, of whether dreaming does serve a specific function at all (Antrobus, 1993). Similarly, although dreaming most often Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 17
occurs in synchrony with the physiological state characterised by REM sleep, dreams may not necessarily provide any direct information regarding the cognitive processes that are taking place during REM sleep. The numerous research attempts to identify precise relationships between dream mentation and EEG parameters have met with limited success (Nielsen & Chénier, 1999). As Antrobus (1993) has pointed out, the daydreams of a commuter do not help describe the cognitive processes involved in driving a car. A similar analogy was made by Flanagan (2000), who likened dreaming to the noise made by hammers in joining the wood to build the frame of a chapel. The joining of the wood serves an essential function, while the noise of the hammers does not.
Because of the strong relationship between REM sleep and dreams, theories of REM sleep function and the function of dreaming are often considered together in the literature, as if they were dealing with a unitary phenomenon. Although they are not the same phenomenon, REM sleep and dreaming are intimately related and should therefore, not be regarded as completely dissociated phenomena (Stickgold, 2002). However, it must be pointed out that isomorphic functions of REM sleep and dreaming cannot be taken for granted.
Theories of Dreaming
Some of the more prominent theories of dreaming will be discussed below. The two sets of theories that hold the most currency today are the functional theories (e.g., Breger, 1967; Cartwright, 1991; Dallett, 1973; French & Fromm, 1964; Greenberg et al., 1970; Hartmann, 1995, 1996a, 1998a; Jones, 1962; Kramer, 1991; Marks & Nesse, 1994; Revonsuo, 2000; Winson, 1972, 1993) and the cognitive theories of dreaming (e.g., Blagrove, 1992a, 1996, 2000; Domhoff, 1993; Flanagan, 2000; Hobson, Stickgold & Pace-Schott, 1998). The functional and cognitive theories are most relevant to the current research described in this thesis.
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 18
Historical Theories
Psychodynamic Theory
Psychodynamic theories of dream function predominated for many years, and to some extent, are defended today (see Solms, 1997, for example). The first was Freud’s (1900) theory that all dreams represent disguised fulfilment of wishes. Freud suggested that unconscious wishes find expression in dreams, and that the function of dreams is to safeguard sleep. Freud originally based his wish fulfilment theory upon his observation of children’s sleeptalking. However, it has since been discovered that most sleeptalking episodes in children do not occur during dreaming, but during incomplete awakenings during slow wave non-REM sleep, wherein the brain is aroused enough to send speech commands, but not aroused enough to be conscious of, or have memory for, the act (Dement, 1999).
Over the years, many have pointed out flaws and inconsistencies in Freud’s theory of dreams, particularly in the assumption that dream elements are symbols of unacceptable referents and that dream symbols are universal (Hall, 1953; Hobson, 2004). Freud suggested that the manifest content of dreams acted as a disguise, and that the latent content and its meaning could only be revealed through interpretation using his own psychoanalytic methods and theory. However, in his thorough critiques of the dream theories of Freud and Jung, Domhoff (2000a, 2003) has pointed out that many studies have investigated correlations between dream reports and personality measures, and provided ample evidence that manifest dream content provides considerable information about dreamers’ emotional concerns, without any need for interpretation. Not only is manifest dream content emotionally salient and unconcealed, but dream content is as likely to be negative as positive, and dreamers would hardly “wish” negative events to befall them (Hobson, 2004). Freud’s theory never adequately accounted for repetitive traumatic dreams, a phenomenon which arguably presented the greatest problem for the wish-fulfillment component of his theory (Domhoff, 2003). As Domhoff (2005b) has argued, dream content is more often a realistic and understandable enactment of the issues and concerns of the dreamer. It seems Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 19
that just as some waking thought comprises “wishful thinking”, so some dreaming cognition also incorporates our wishes, desires and most fanciful aspirations (Domhoff, 2003).
Freud developed the idea that dreams protect and ensure the continuity of sleep upon the observation that when people are hungry, they commonly dream about eating. Similarly they commonly dream about urinating when they have a full bladder, having sex when they have not had sexual relations, and imbibing when they are abstinent. He suggested that, in such instances, the dream hallucination satisfies the bodily need, thus preventing any need for awakening to do so. This “guardian of sleep” hypothesis has some face value, but is contradicted by a number of research findings. Firstly, people do dream frequently and regularly, and their dreams are often not related to physiological urges (Domhoff, 2000a). Secondly many people sleep quite well, but apparently do not dream very much, if at all (Domhoff, 2000a). For example, Jus et al. (1973) studied dream recall in chronic schizophrenic patients many years after they had undergone prefrontal lobotomy, and found that few reported dreams, despite comparable sleep quantity and quality to non-lobotomised schizophrenic patients. Similarly, although Solms (1997) has found that patients suffering global loss of dreaming as a result of parietal lobe injury and insult were more likely to report sleep disruption than controls, over half of the dreamless patients indicated that their sleep was not disrupted. This is more than would be expected, if, in fact, dreaming is necessary to preserve sleep (Domhoff, 2003).
Jung’s (1974) theory of dreams rested on the central idea of a collective unconscious, which was supposed to contain the inherited record of human experiences in the form of archetypes. Jung argued that these archetypes found expression in dreams through a set of common symbols. These symbolic images and words were supposed to imply wider, unconscious meanings that could lead the mind to explore ideas “beyond the grasp of reason” (Jung, 1964, p. 21). While the notion of inheriting acquired characteristics has been largely discredited (Neher, 1996), and it is impossible to rule out the influence of socialisation and Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 20
culture on common understandings of symbolism, Jung’s ideas regarding the expression of common cultural experiences through metaphorical concepts remain eminently plausible (Domhoff, 2000a). However, as Domhoff (2000a) has sensibly suggested, “there is no need to invoke a ‘collective unconscious’ to explain experiences that are more likely based on common human situations that recur in individual lifetimes” (p. 5).
Another major tenet of Jung’s theory of dreams was that dreams served a compensatory function, allowing the expression of aspects of an individual’s personality which were not fully developed in waking life. Jung (1964) suggested that dreams function to restore psychological balance by producing material that re-establishes the psychic equilibrium. Systematic study of dream content has not supported this proposal, with most studies showing clear continuity between waking personality and preoccupations and dream themes and content (Blagrove & Price, 2000; Fisher & Greenberg, 1996; Foulkes, Larson, Swanson & Rardin, 1969; Foulkes & Rechtschaffen, 1964; Hall & Nordby, 1972; Kallmeyer & Chang, 1998). Jung also suggested that dreams may highlight issues of which we have unconscious, but not yet conscious, awareness. For example, he asserted that dreams may announce situations before they actually happen, not by means of precognition, but because crises and illnesses have a long unconscious history. While there is anecdotal evidence of such dream experiences (e.g., Burch, 2003; Moss, 2000), the links are difficult to prove in any significant way. Even if it could be shown that some dreams reflect personal issues that may simmer beneath the surface of our consciousness, this may be evidence of continuity between two aspects of cognition, rather than evidence of a compensatory function.
Random Brainstem Activation Theory
The observation that random signals, such as pontine-geniculate-occipital cortex (PGO) spikes, occur in REM sleep led to the theory that the formal properties of dreams are random, meaningless products of brainstem activity (Hobson & McCarley, 1977). The activation-synthesis hypothesis advanced that dreams are the result of periodic activation of the brain stem during sleep, and Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 21
their seemingly coherent narrative quality is the result of synthetic efforts by the forebrain to ascribe meaning to the internally generated signals. The dream experience is elaborated from random signals from the brainstem to command the cortex to produce oculomotor and somatomotor movement (McCarley & Hoffmann, 1981). The symbolic, meaningful nature of dreams was attributed by Hobson (1992) to “the integrative strain of this synthetic effort” (p. 463). He suggested, “the brain-mind may need to call upon its deepest myths to find a narrative frame that can contain the data” (p. 463). According to this theory, all dream events originate as physiological accidents (Purcell, Moffitt & Hoffmann, 1993).
Theories of periodic activation of the brainstem must accommodate the fact that REM sleep occurs at fairly regular intervals across the night and that REM periods tend to lengthen as morning approaches. In positing his sentinel hypothesis, Snyder (1966) suggested that this periodic activation is necessary to keep the brain in a minimally active state, so that it can be ready for full waking function upon awakening. From an evolutionary perspective, this could be useful in that the high level of cortical activity of REM sleep could periodically prepare animals for the possible need to wake during the night to fight off aggressors or predators (Snyder, 1966). A significant problem for this evolutionary explanation is that the animal is effectively deaf, blind and paralysed during REM sleep, and thus periodic periods of wakefulness would be far more effective from a survival point of view (Flanagan, 2000).
The activation-synthesis hypothesis was further elaborated by Hobson, Pace-Schott and Stickgold (2000) with the development of their Activation- Information flow Mode of processing (AIM) model which represented the differences between wakefulness, REM and non-REM sleep in a way that attempted to highlight the isomorphism between the phenomenology of dreaming and the physiology of REM sleep. This newer theory speculated more on the synthesis aspect of the original model, incorporating more recent findings of neuroimaging, neurochemical and lesion studies (e.g., Braun et al., 1997, 1998; Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 22
Cooper, Bloom & Roth, 1996; Chemelli et al, 1999; McCarley et al, 1997; Maquet et al., 1996; Nofzinger et al., 1997; Saper, Sherin & Elmquist, 1997; Shiromani, Scammell, Sherin & Saper, 1999; Solms, 1997).
Reverse Learning Theory
In 1983, Crick and Mitchison proposed a theory of reverse learning to explain dreaming, suggesting that random activation of cortical neural networks during sleep serves to rid the mind of superfluous thoughts from the previous waking day. In other words, Crick and Mitchison theorised that “we dream to forget”. According to this model, the brain is a parallel distributed processing system, like a computer, which needs to have its numerous memory associations “pruned” in order to prevent overloading. Redundant or less important associations are eliminated or weakened, and dreams represent the irrelevant thoughts and memories that are being disposed of. Crick and Mitchison’s theory did not account well for the fact that some dreams contain highly complex narratives, and they were subsequently compelled to revise the theory to exclude narrative dreams (Crick & Mitchison, 1986). Nor did the 1983 or later versions (1986, 1995) of the theory account for the fact that we often dream about things that we have never experienced or even thought of (Botman & Crovitz, 1989; Harlow & Roll, 1992). Flanagan (2000) has argued that Crick and Mitchison’s theory is only parsimonious in its elucidation of the function of REM sleep, and dreaming is best explained as a by-product of that evolved and adaptive function. He has pointed out that while it would make sense if the brain was working to cull unneeded memories, dreams are more likely to be a side effect of that process, rather than central to it.
Functional Theories Problem-Solving Theories
The problem-solving theories posit that waking problems are incorporated into dream content in such a way as to contribute to problem-solving. These Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 23
theories raise the question of what kind of dream incorporation might contribute to, or even provide, solutions to waking problems. There have been two main types of problem-solving theories of dream function, one that has highlighted intellectual problem-solving, and one that has emphasised emotional problem- solving.
The basis of the intellectual problem-solving theories of dream function is the contention that dreaming serves to facilitate a process whereby intellectual problems are directly and explicitly solved. Probably the most famous instance of direct problem-solving in a dream was August Kekulé’s dream of the whirling snakes, which led to the discovery of the molecular structure of the benzene ring (Baylor, 2001). However, Kekulé did not publicly recount this dream until 28 years later, and the verisimilitude of the dream report has been questioned. Rudofsky and Wotiz (1988) concluded that Kekulé invented the story about the dream to avoid credit for the breakthrough being given to earlier investigators who had already written about molecular cyclic structures. Although Strunz (1993) has refuted the anti-Kekulists in a detailed and convincing historical account, the dream-solution connection can never be properly substantiated.
Another example was Mendeleev’s claim that a dream led him to discover the underlying rule by which chemical elements could be ordered in a periodic table (Mazzarello, 2000). This claim is also seriously doubted, as Baylor’s (2001) investigations found that Mendeleev had already discovered the periodic table before the alleged dream took place, although a later dream may have depicted an improved representation of the table. Otto Loewi similarly claimed to have been inspired by his dreams to perform the crucial experiment that first demonstrated neurochemical transmission of nerve impulses to a frog’s heart (Mazzarello, 2000). However, Loewi never provided a written report of the dream, although 32 years after the discovery, he did recount in a 1953 public lecture that he had awoken from sleep with the idea that led to this important discovery (Loewi, cited in Baylor, 2001).
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As Empson (2002) has so eloquently noted, inspiration without effort is an attractive idea (indeed, many has been the night that this author has retired to bed, hoping in vain that this thesis would be laid out in a dream!). Notwithstanding these rather dramatic examples, there has been relatively little empirical evidence to support the notion that dreams result in direct solutions to current intellectual problems (Blagrove, 1991, 1992a, 1992b, 1992c, 1993, 1996). Some studies have certainly shown a relationship between REM sleep and emotional memory formation and memory retention (Wagner, Gais & Born, 2001; Wetzel, Wagner & Balschun, 2003). An earlier study showed a relationship between sleep and divergent thinking (Horne, 1988), and an interesting recent study has shown a relationship between sleep and the gaining of pivotal insights (Stickgold & Walker, 2004; Wagner, Gais, Haider, Verleger & Born, 2004). However, in the latter study, where both waking and sleeping mentation were investigated, there were no reports of relevant dreams pertinent to the training task. Barrett (2001) has stressed that in virtually all cases of reported direct, creative problem-solving dreams, the dreamer has already done extensive waking work on the problem. This may have been the case also in the fascinating study by De Koninck (1996) where, throughout a period of four days, participants wore glasses, while waking, which inverted their visual field. The findings revealed that participants who incorporated the inverted visual field into their dreams performed better on tests of waking adaptation to the visual inversion. However, interpretations of these results must be cautious, given the relatively low number of participants (eight).
Blagrove (1996) has examined the many properties (imagination, analogical reasoning, and creativity) that dreams would need to demonstrate in order to have true cognitive problem-solving capacities. He found that dream mentation lacked the reflexivity, intentionality and conscious control of imagination to be analogous with waking thought or direct problem-solving. In this review, he concluded that it was doubtful on empirical grounds that a direct problem-solving ability could be ascribed to dreams, and that dream mentation should not be thought of as similar to waking thought, in terms of conscious or reflexive goal-directed control. It may in fact be the relaxed sleeping, hypnogogic, Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 25
or hypnopompic state that allows the solution to occur to the dreamer, rather than an actual dream.
One exception in the empirical study of dream problem-solving was a study in which 76 university students chose problems of a personal nature to solve in their dreams (Barrett, 1993). Participants wrote down the problem and contemplated it, and then kept a dream diary for a week or until they recalled a dream that they believed might contain a solution to the problem. Most of the problems which they felt were related to a recalled dream involved relationship issues or concerns around academic or vocational matters. The dreams were rated by the dreamers and two independent judges as to whether or not they were associated with the stated problem, and contained a plausible solution. Barrett (1993) claimed that the results of this study showed that such personal problems were much more likely to be solved through dreaming than were intellectual or objective problems. This finding led to the idea that dreams might be more concerned with emotional problem-solving, and might be linked to emotional adaptation.
The participants in Barrett’s study were instructed to “select a problem of personal relevance with recognisable solution/s” that could be of “a personal, general objective, or academic nature”. Problems of personal relevance could arguably all be considered personal, making the distinction somewhat unclear. Nevertheless, of the 76 participants, 64 incubated a dream about a personal problem, six incubated a dream about an objective, non-medical problem, and four incubated a dream about an academic problem. Of the dreams incubated, only 36% of dreams about personal problems (judges rated 28%), 17% of dreams about objective, non-medical problems (judges rated 17%), and 0% of dreams about academic problems (judges rated 0%) were judged by the participants as containing a solution. No statistical analyses testing these differences were reported in Barrett’s (1993) article.
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The methodology of Barrett’s study has been criticised by Revonsuo (2000) on the grounds that there were no definitive, prospective criteria for what should count as a dreamed solution in relation to the chosen personal problems. Without such pre-determined criteria, there is a possibility that at least some solutions could have been attributed to the dreams during the recollection and reporting of the dreams, rather than having occurred during the dream themselves (Revonsuo, 2000). Experimenter effects and participant expectations also have to be suspected, given that the instructions inferred the possibility of a solution being dreamed about, with the added bonus that diary-keeping could be ceased once it had. The problem with demand characteristics and pre-sleep suggestions in dream research has been highlighted by previous studies (e.g., Belicki & Bowers, 1982; Walker & Johnson, 1974).
Domhoff (2003) also questioned the significance of the findings, by highlighting the fact that in all but two cases, there was disagreement amongst the dreamer and two judges about whether or not the dreams contained the problem and proffered a likely solution. Further, Domhoff (2003) argued that in the two cases where there was agreement, the “solutions” were no more than reflections of the problems and of the dreamers’ preoccupations with them. In some of Barrett’s (1993) cases, the purported solution actually occurred to the dreamers during the waking state, when they were contemplating the content of the dreams. This is consistent with Blagrove’s (1992a, 1996) argument that is it the process of waking examination of the dream, rather than the dream itself, that provides the solutions. It is also consistent with the findings of clinical studies that discussion of dreams can be useful in therapy (e.g., Fiss, 1991; Greenberg, Katz, Schwartz & Pearlman, 1992).
Underlying the emotional problem-solving theories of dream function is the idea that dreams somehow help us to adjust to, cope with, or resolve emotionally troubling life situations and concerns. Specifically, emotional problem-solving theorists (e.g., Breger, 1967; French and Fromm, 1964; Greenberg et al., 1970; Hartmann, 1995, 1996a, 1998a; Jones, 1962; Kramer, Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 27
1991, 1993) have suggested that dreams serve an adaptive function in relation to current emotional stress. These theorists argue that, through the dreaming process, individuals are somehow able to integrate emotional experiences with similar material in memory, in an effort to master and perhaps resolve emotional issues (Koulack, 1993). Dallett (1973) has called the hypotheses underlying these theories, therefore, mastery hypotheses.
Hartmann (1995, 1996a, 1998a,b) has argued that, by allowing neuronal networks to make connections through pictorial metaphors of our emotional concerns, dreaming consciousness is able to interweave new information with old material in memory, in order to help us to adapt to future problem situations and traumas. Hartmann’s theory is based upon his analysis of the dreams of survivors of severe trauma, which he asserts allows for the clearest insights into dreams in relation to emotionally meaningful psychological experience. Hartmann (1998b) suggested that dreaming allows us to make pictured metaphors of our emotional concerns, and thus make broad neural connections that integrate new with old memory material, to help us to adapt to future trauma and stress. There is certainly good evidence that during REM sleep, the emotional brain is free of the logic of the (selectively deactivated) frontal lobes (e.g., Maquet et al., 1996; Nofzinger et al., 1997), and this is most probably why REM sleep mentation is sometimes so illogical and strange. However, whatever kinds of connections that the brain is making during REM sleep, the assumption that dreams function to bring about recovery or adjustment is difficult to test.
There is a wide body of evidence that REM sleep may be involved in the processing of emotional memories. A meta-analysis of sleep-deprivation research (Pilcher & Huffcutt, 1996) showed that one of the main effects of sleep deprivation in humans is modification of affect. Wagner, Gais, and Born (2001) found that after three hours of sleep rich in REM, participants demonstrated significantly better retention of material from emotional texts, than they did after three hours of waking, or of slow wave sleep. This effect was highly significant compared to their retention of material from neutral texts. Other studies have Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 28
recorded similar findings in relation to the role of REM sleep in emotional memory processing (Cartwright, et al., 1975; Greenberg, Pillard, & Pearlman, 1972; Grieser, Greenberg, & Harrison, 1972; Lewin & Gombosh, 1973; McGrath & Cohen, 1978). Both animal studies (Smith, 1985, 1993) and human studies (De Koninck, Christ & Lorrain, 1987; De Koninck, Lorrain, Christ, Proulx & Coulombe, 1989; Glaubman & Hartmann, 1978) have shown a tendency to require increased REM sleep following periods of intense emotional upset and learning. Rats that are mastering the learning of new tasks show definite increases of REM sleep, while those that seem unable to learn the tasks do not (Smith, 1985, 1993). De Koninck, Christ & Lorrain (1987) found increases in REM sleep duration in students engaged in intense and emotionally important language- learning. Glaubman and Hartmann (1978) found a tendency to increased REM sleep in participants who spent a weekend participating in group sessions that involved learning and emotional upset.
Evidence of a relationship between REM sleep and emotional processing also comes from research that has explored latency from sleep onset to the onset of REM sleep (REM latency) and the density of eye movements during REM sleep. In depression, REM latency has been found to be shortened (Agargun & Cartwright, 2003; Benca, Obermeyer, Thisted & Gillin, 1992; Benca, 2000; Buysse et al., 2001) and REM density has been found to be elevated (Buysse et al., 2001; Kupfer & Foster, 1972). This finding has also been replicated in war- related anxiety; hurricane survivors with PTSD (David & Mellman, 1997); combat veterans with PTSD (Dow, Kelsoe & Gillin, 1996; Mellman, Nolan, Hebding, Kulick-Bell, & Dominguez, 1997); general psychological strain (Lauer, Riemann, Lund & Berger, 1987); and people making adaptations to life stressors (Cartwright, 1983; Reynolds et al., 1993). Agargun and Cartwright (2003) found that suicidal subjects had significantly shorter REM latency and a greater tendency to report progressively more negative dreams across the night. Since REM latency is shortened and REM density is increased in association with recovery sleep following REM deprivation (Ellman, Spielman, Luck, Steiner & Halperin, 1991; Reynolds et al., 1993), these findings are consistent with an Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 29
increased pressure for REM sleep. They are also consistent with REM sleep serving a function in relation to the processing of challenging emotions, arising from personally demanding events. Although the aetiology and significance of these findings are presently unresolved (Mellman, 2000), and although REM sleep and dreaming are not isomorphic, a popular theory has sprung from this evidence of a relationship between REM sleep and processing of emotional material. This is the theory that dreams function to produce solutions to emotional problems, or facilitate emotional adjustment to personally challenging situations.
Greenberg et al. (1970) suggest that dreaming allows the integration of emotionally stressful material with an individual’s usual defences or coping mechanisms, to facilitate adjustment to the current stressor. French and Fromm’s (1964) ego-analytic theory of dream function posited that the solution of contemporary conflicts, and the integration of those solutions, is the main psychological function of dreams. They suggested that dreams usually involve efforts at interpersonal adaptation, with every dream having a focal conflict that the dreamer’s interest and problem-solving efforts are centred on. By initiating cognitive reorganisation of the focal conflict and integrating it with the dreamer’s storehouse of past solutions and defences to similar problems, the dream accomplishes its problem-solving task.
Most of the studies which have attempted to test the hypothesis that dreams help with emotional problem-solving have involved the study of participants who are undergoing or have undergone a real-life, emotionally significant or traumatic event. The common feature in these stressful situations and post-traumatic situations is that an external event has occurred which is perceived by the individual to be threatening to their life, livelihood, health, happiness, or person, and which is difficult to integrate with available psychological resources (Mack, 1992). According to Hartmann (1998a,b), the dreams of traumatised people represent the clearest examples of dreams helping to deal with dominant emotions and emotional concerns. He proposed that dreams after trauma, or during stressful situations, are an especially useful starting point Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 30
for examining possible functions of dreaming, since in these cases it is known what must be on the dreamers’ minds a large part of the time. However, Blagrove (1992a, 2000) argues that a correlation between stress and nightmares, or even between a change in nightmare content and recovery from trauma, does not equate to dreaming playing a causal role in that recovery.
It is also now generally agreed that dreams do reflect waking emotional concerns and preoccupations, and therefore frequently have significant meaning for the dreamer (Blagrove, 2000). However, meaning does not prove function, adaptive or otherwise, and it is possible that dreaming is a by-product of REM sleep. As such, dreaming does not necessarily serve a function of its own and may merely be a window into the kind of cognitive processing that may be taking place during REM sleep. Indeed, Domhoff (2001a) argues that despite obvious continuity between waking life and dream themes, much evidence points to dreams being an accidental by-product of the evolutionary adaptations of sleep and consciousness. Similarly, Blagrove (2000) has suggested that there is little evidence to support the contention that dreaming has any adaptive function.
Several studies have interpreted the progression of change in dream content following traumatic events as evidence of an emotional problem-solving function of dreams. In the aftermath of traumatic events, trauma victims typically experience sleep disturbances and nightmares (Punamaki, 1998). People who have been severely traumatised tend to dream at first about the actual trauma, and then, usually fairly soon after, begin to have dreams which contextualise the dominant emotion (e.g. terror, fear, vulnerability, helplessness, guilt, and grief) (Hartmann, 1998a). Muller (1996) observed that while survivors of rape trauma almost universally suffer from nightmares, dream references to the assault tend to become more symbolic over time in parallel with the integration of the event into the dreamer’s life. Sometimes, the current concerns and emotions are represented metaphorically, such as in the example of a rape victim dreaming of being overpowered by a tidal wave. During times of stress or following traumatic events, people will often have recurrent, negative dreams and nightmares, which Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 31
often increase distress and are associated with a reduction in psychological well- being (Zadra, O’Brien, & Donderi, 1997-1998). These nightmares often remind the dreamer of the current stressor or trauma and revive the associated negative affect and distress. What these studies seem to point to is the tendency for people who have been traumatised to experience dream content which reflects not only their traumatic experiences, but also their emotions in relation to those experiences. They seem to also show that, like their waking emotions, their dream emotions and congruent content are often reactive rather than adaptive.
Perhaps the most oft-cited research in relation to the emotional problem- solving theories, is that carried out by Cartwright and her colleagues. Cartwright has studied the dreams of hundreds of people going through a divorce and argues that her findings show how dreams function to help people repair their self-image and adjust to their changed circumstances. Cartwright and Lamberg (1992) have asserted “dreams display our efforts to integrate today’s concerns with material already in the memory storage depots” (p. 12). They argued that dreams are designed to assist us in maintaining our self-identity as our life circumstances change. Cartwright and Lamberg (1992) asserted that by allowing the expression of a variety of feelings, dreams lead to the gradual extinction of overwhelming distress. More recently, Cartwright and colleagues have suggested that dreams may function to regulate waking mood (Cartwright, Baehr, Kirkby, Pandi- Perumal & Kabat, 2003). Cartwright, Luten, Young, Mercer and Bears (1998) found that people experiencing mild negative emotion prior to sleep, tended to display less negative and more positive affect in dream reports collected from successive REM periods over a single night. They suggested that dreams may function to actively moderate or regulate mood.
In an early study of women going through a divorce, Cartwright, Lloyd, Knight and Trenholme (1984) showed that the dreams of depressed, divorced participants differed from those who were not depressed in that they contained fewer positive motives. In a subsequent study, Cartwright (1986) showed that divorcing subjects dreamed less about the experimental laboratory situation than Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 32
married control subjects, indicating that they may have been more preoccupied with their personal concerns than with the demands of the experiment. The subset sample in which this finding was demonstrated was small (Divorcing N = 13; Married N = 9). Cartwright acknowledged, “the dreams involved here comprised a very small sample and were collected under unusual circumstances” (p. 421).
Cartwright (1991) examined the dreams of 70 people who were going through a divorce, 40 of whom were depressed. She found that the depressed, divorced individuals had more emotionally negative dreams and dreamed more often of their ex-spouse, although she did not suggest that the divorcees’ dreams of their ex-spouses contained solutions to their problems. Importantly, Cartwright also found that among the depressed, those who dreamed of their spouse, on the single night they spent in the laboratory, were better adjusted one year later than those who did not. Proponents of the theory of an emotional problem-solving function of dreaming have argued that Cartwright’s (1991) findings provide evidence that dreams are performing the task of psychological healing. The more the depressed divorcees dreamed about their problems, the more unconscious healing work they were doing, and the more adjusted they would be. The results of Cartwright’s study are considered key findings in relation to the theory that dreaming serves an adaptive function. The findings are often cited in support of the theory that dreams function to help the dreamer make an emotional adjustment to life challenges and changes.
Cartwright (1991) did acknowledge, however, that her study may have suffered from methodological limitations and she conceded that there were many ways in which the study could be faulted (Cartwright, 1996, p. 185). The total number of divorcees who were followed up after one year in Cartwright’s (1991) study was 49, 31 of whom were depressed, with 13 depressed participants having dreamed of their ex-spouse. While Cartwright (1991) admitted the small sample size was a problem, she nevertheless claimed, “What it lacks in numbers, it makes up for in excitement” (p. 8). In addition, Cartwright’s interpretation of the findings may have overlooked the possibility that the divorcees’ dreams may have Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 33
reflected their personality and coping styles, and it may have been these factors, rather than the dreams, that brought about change in their waking lives. Indeed, it seems quite likely that certain personality and coping style factors may have co- varied with depression.
Cartwright’s (1991) study investigated depression, and while her results in relation to depression were significant, it could be argued that when measuring adjustment to a life stressor, such as a divorce, it may be advantageous to investigate a range of variables, since some individuals who may be depressed might be functioning quite well and adjusting to their new situation, while others who are not depressed could be suffering other forms of distress, using substances to cope, or having nightmares for example. In the Cartwright (1991) study, “There was only one night of dream collection, and some who did not dream of the spouse that night might well be experiencing a great deal of incorporation of the problem of this relationship on other nights. Also there was a long gap between that one night of dreaming and the follow-up interview, during which many new reality factors would have intervened” (Cartwright, 1996, p. 185).
While Cartwright’s (1991) study is an important one in relation to its findings of a link between depression and dream content, the findings do not seem robust enough to support an entire theory of dream function. They are often held to be bolstered by findings in relation to REM sleep function, where they ought to be considered separately. Replication of the findings with a larger sample across a number of adjustment variables could strengthen the theory, but such studies do not seem to exist in the literature. More recently, Cartwright and colleagues (Cartwright, Agargun, Kirkby & Friedman, 2006; Cartwright, Baehr, Kirkby, Pandi-Perumal & Kabat, 2003) have reported on a longitudinal study involving 20 depressed and 10 control subjects, all going through a divorce. These participants were studied over a five month period, with three daytime assessments and three sleep laboratory studies. Twelve of the depressed participants were described as remitted from their depression after one month, and six of these reported one or more spouse incorporation dreams across the three REM interruption nights. Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 34
Cartwright, et al. did not report whether or not depressed incorporators were more or less likely to have remitted than non-incorporators, suggesting that they may have had difficulty in precisely replicating the pattern of results in the 1991 study. They did, however, find that the incorporation dreams of the remitted participants to be qualitatively different from the incorporation dreams of the non-remitted participants, in that they were richer and more emotional.
In contrast to the findings of Cartwright (1991), Kramer, Schoen & Kinney’s (1984) research with Vietnam veterans found an association between high recall of dreams of stressful events and poor subsequent adaptation to the events. They found that the dreams of these veterans tended to be repetitive and disturbing, and sometimes returned when they were faced with new stressors. They suggested that, rather than serving an adaptive function, the dreams of these veterans served as an expression of their emotional preoccupations at any given time. Germain and Nielsen (2003) found that posttraumatic nightmare sufferers exhibited a different pattern of sleep disturbances to idiopathic nightmare sufferers, suggesting that individuals with posttraumatic stress are more aroused as a result of nightmare psychopathology. Domhoff (1996) suggests that the phenomenon of post-traumatic dreams fits better with cognitive theories, such as the continuity theory, since they reflect a preoccupation with unresolved problems.
Some findings in relation to antidepressant medication also pose problems for the emotional problem-solving theory of dream function. These include the finding that selective REM sleep deprivation and REM-suppressing medications alleviate depression, rather than exacerbate it (Leibenluft & Wehr, 1992; Riemann, Berger & Voderholzer, 2001; Sandor & Shapiro, 1994; Vogel, Vogel, McAbee & Thurmond, 1980; Wilson, et al., 2004). If dreams function to facilitate adjustment, conditions that enhance REM sleep would be more likely to result in improved adjustment over time. While the link between REM sleep suppression and the alleviation of depression has not yet been fully explained, some (e.g., Landolt, Kelsoe, Rapaport & Gillin, 2003; Monaca, Boutrel, Hen, Hamon & Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 35
Adrien, 2003; Moore et al., 1998) have suggested that a mechanism related to serotonin regulation may be involved. Recent work on the relationship between REM sleep suppression and the alleviation of depression (Cartwright, Baehr, Kirkby, Pandi-Perumal & Kabat, 2003) suggests that it may be deprivation- induced REM pressure, especially for those who are able to construct well- organised dreams, that brings about remission from depression. However, the REM sleep deprivation involved in this study only consisted of experimental REM awakenings on three nights over a five month period, which is unlikely to have been substantial enough to have induced significant REM pressure, particularly allowing for REM rebound on subsequent nights.
The possibility that REM sleep may be involved in mood regulation is consistent with recent research suggesting that both normal and depressed individuals tend to report more intense, negative dreams early in the night, and fewer such dreams later in the night (Cartwright, Luten, Young, Mercer & Bears, 1998; Cartwright, Young, Mercer & Bears, 1998; Roussy, Raymond & De Koninck, 2000; Roussy, Raymond, Gonthier, Grenier & De Koninck, 1998).
To counter the problem of dreams about emotional stressors being associated with reduced wellbeing, the emotional problem-solving theory has been modified (Kramer, 1991). According to the new version of the theory, recalled and repetitive dreams represent dreams that have been interrupted, and thus prevented, from performing their true function, while unrecalled dreams are those which have successfully finished the job. In support of this idea, Kramer’s (1993) research showed that increased waking happiness followed a night’s dreaming where recall of dreams regarding the problem was low or absent. Kramer suggested that successful patterns of dreaming were those in which dreams about current emotional concerns were not recalled or reflected constructive problem-solving, while nightmares, especially repetitive ones, reflected unsuccessful attempts at emotional problem-solving. A critical problem with this explanation is that it relies on the assumption that fewer dream reports equates with more efficient dreams, when a more parsimonious explanation is that a lower level of preoccupation with a problem results in fewer dreams about it. Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 36
Another recent and more complex version of the emotional problem- solving theories (Cartwright, Agargun, Kirkby & Friedman, 2006) suggests that stressors need to not only be incorporated in the dreams, but related to older memory material as well, to be useful in improving waking mood. However, the complexity of memory associations in dreams has, thus far, proven difficult to measure in more than a fairly crude manner.
Threat Simulation and Rehearsal Theory
In several studies across diverse populations, it has been observed that negative affect occurs quite regularly in dreams (Domhoff, 2001a; Strauch & Meier, 1996). This has been shown to sometimes be the case even when people dream of a happy event which they are experiencing in waking life, such as a wedding, or the birth of a child (Hartmann, 1998a). Dreams of such happy events are just as likely to involve associated problems or potential problems. Marks and Nesse (1994) provide an evolutionary explanation for the regular occurrence of negative emotions, such as fear and anxiety, in dreams. They argue that negatively toned dreams are adaptive responses, the rehearsal of which increases fitness for facing situations that threaten our reproductive survival.
In his evolutionary theory of dream function, Revonsuo (2000) holds that dreams simulate threatening events, thereby allowing us to rehearse threat perception and avoidance. Revonsuo has speculated that these biologically- programmed practice runs, which take place within our dreams, improve our chances of avoiding real-life threats, leading to an increased likelihood of survival and reproductive success. Humans today face many of the same threats that confronted our ancestors, although our environment is considerably different. Although we don’t frequently encounter wild animals, snakes, and spiders, personal safety and the possibility of attack certainly pervade modern thinking and behaviour. Presumably, as humans have become more sophisticated, social threats have become increasingly salient. Revonsuo (2000) has hypothesised that “in certain adaptively important situations with certain ecologically valid cues” the threat simulation system of dreaming is likely to swing into full activation. Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 37
This theory could be generalised to other situations involving heightened personal vulnerability, including those that pose a possible threat to well-being, social identity, and livelihood.
Winson (1972, 1993) argued that dreams function to allow animals to rehearse, consolidate, and enact species-specific adaptive strategies. This proposition was based on the finding that mammals, such as cats, rabbits and rats, display prominent, species-specific, signature cycles of theta rhythm on EEG when in waking situations which are highly salient to survival, as well as during REM sleep. Given that social interaction and emotional behaviour are especially salient to human survival, it is consistent with this theory that hippocampal theta activity has been shown to occur in emotionally aroused, awake humans, as well as in REM states and stage 1 sleep (Tortora & Anagnostakos, 1987). More recently, studies of human limbic structures during REM sleep using depth electrodes, have shown similar distinctive EEG theta patterns to the hippocampal theta rhythms seen in animal studies (Mann, Simmons, Wilson, Engel, & Bragin, 1997: Staba et al., 1998). These findings, when considered in conjunction with the neuroimaging research findings, strongly suggest that when humans are in REM sleep, their limbic structures are actively processing emotional material and that, according to evolutionary argument, this processing is somehow important to their ability to adapt.
There are several problems with Revonsuo’s evolutionary theory of dreaming. Firstly, all of the evidence regarding the neurobiology of REM sleep points only to the possible adaptive functions of REM sleep and since, as previously detailed, REM sleep and dreaming are not isomorphic, this evidence may not be revealing in relation to the potential adaptive functions of dreaming (Domhoff, 2000b). Secondly, although in general dream content tends to be more negative than positive (Hartmann, 1998a), research by Blagrove and Price (2000) has shown that happy, skilled individuals tend to experience happy dreams. In addition, a study by Kallmeyer and Chang (1998) found an association between positive waking emotions and positive dreams, and between negative waking Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 38
emotions and negative dreams. The other problems for Revonsuo’s theory are: most recalled dreams do not involve threats or aggression (Zadra & Donderi, 2000); dream emotions are as likely to be positive as negative (Schredl & Doll, 1998); and people who have high recall of threatening dreams are less, rather than more, likely to be psychologically fit (Levin, 2000; Nielsen & Germain, 2000).
While the threat simulation theory provides a plausible explanation for some aspects of nightmare themes and content, it does not explain the content of the majority of dreams which tend to be mundane and non-threatening (Zadra & Donderi, 2000), or the tendency for frequent sufferers of nightmares to be less, rather than more, equipped to cope with waking threats (Levin, 2000; Nielsen & Germain, 2000).
Cognitive Theories
Continuity and Repetition Theory
There is an great deal of empirical evidence that dream images and content reflect the current emotional concerns of the dreamer, as well as the intensity of those concerns (Davidson, Hart & Haines, 2005; Davidson, Lee-Archer & Sanders, 2005; Hartmann, 1996b, 1998b; Hartmann, Zborowski, McNamara, Rosen & Gazells Grace, 1999; Kramer, 1993). The reflection in dreams of the subjective reality of the individual has been demonstrated in large-scale studies of dream content (e.g., Domhoff, 1996; Hall, 1969; Hall & Van de Castle, 1966). Content analyses have shown continuity between dream content and waking life (Hall & Nordby, 1972) and dreams have been shown to dramatise individuals’ waking emotional preoccupations (e.g. Cartwright, Lloyd, Knight, & Trenholme, 1984; Domhoff, 1996; Hartmann, 1996a; Trenholme, Cartwright, & Greenberg, 1984; Wilmer, 1996). This has led many researchers to continue to seek an understanding of why these common findings occur.
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 39
Domhoff (1993) pointed to the “repetition principle” as a clue to the essential nature of dream content over time. He found that depending on the level of preoccupation with a waking concern, the dreamer may dream, more or less repeatedly, about that concern. He suggested that the repetition dimension is prominent in dreams and dream content, and argued that there is a relationship between the frequency of a dream theme and the assimilation of the related events and experiences. In this way, traumatic and recurrent dream themes reflect a preoccupation with unresolved problems. This theory is supported by the finding that recurrent dreams often disappear when a problem is finally resolved (Cartwright, 1979). Interestingly, a study by Duke and Davidson (2002) comparing the recall of recurrent dreams amongst university students found that there was a tendency for recurrent dreams to become more frequent during times of emotional stress during an examination period, suggesting that stress may either trigger a particular dream response pattern or reflect an increase in waking thoughts of the stressor.
There are three quite competing types of explanations for why people who are preoccupied with life stressors might experience repetitive dreams about those stressors. Cartwright (1992) argues that repetitive or interrupted dreams are the result of an overloaded dream system. When the “dream system” is working well, she contends, “dreams offer a shortcut to understanding and overcoming the emotional stumbling blocks of people in crisis” (p. 32). However, according to Cartwright, when stressors are so overwhelming that the mechanisms involved in dreaming can no longer perform effectively, repetitive dreams may occur as a dysfunction response. This is similar to Hartmann’s (1996a) proposition that repetitive traumatic nightmares are not even dreams at all, but memory intrusions into normal sleep and dreaming, like the “flashbacks” of the waking state. He argued that while ordinarily dreams following trauma reflect a gradual integration of the traumatic event with other personal themes, PTSD nightmares tend to remain “encapsulated” and fixed in content. The second explanation, offered by Lansky (1990), is that these repetitive nightmares represent a compulsion to repeat (as postulated originally by Freud in 1920) by the ego, which, initially Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 40
overwhelmed, attempts to prepare itself to replay, and eventually to master overwhelming traumatic experience. Freud proposed that the function of these dreams was to repeat the trauma in order to master the external threat, achieve a belated discharge of tension, and to regain a sense of control (Freud, 1920).
The third explanation for repetitive dreams is that they simply mirror waking preoccupation, and dissipate when that preoccupation dissipates, or in the case of post-traumatic nightmares, become entrenched as dysfunctional, cognitive dream patterns reflecting ingrained, compulsive waking thought patterns. Indeed, vulnerable individuals who are inclined to experience waking life as particularly intense and absorbing, may be at higher risk of developing repetitive dream patterns (Belicki & Cuddy, 1991; Najam & Malik, 2003). With a greater tendency to daydream (Tonay, 1993) and experience sleep disturbances, repetitive dreams and nightmares (Schredl, Ciric, Gotz & Wittmann, 2003), the wellbeing of these individuals may become subject to a feedback loop whereby their waking and dreaming cognitions serve to perpetuate one another. Indeed, this could well explain why Cartwright (1992) may have observed that certain individuals sometimes developed a dysfunctional dreaming pattern, although it does not mean that dreams that are not repetitive are performing any particular function.
Continuity has been shown in research relating to experimentally manipulated stressful waking events and subsequent dream content reflecting those events. In one such study, Koulack, Prevost, and De Koninck (1985) also found an association between high recall of dreams of stressful events and poor subsequent adaptation to the events. They subjected half of a group of participants to a stressful experience (they were given difficult tests that could not be completed in the allocated time, but were told that they could be) prior to sleep. The other half of the group was given an easy test prior to sleep. When wakened from REM sleep during the night, those in the stressful condition were more likely to incorporate the pre-sleep material than those in the easy test condition.
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 41
Wilmer (1996) divided the manifest content of Vietnam veterans’ dreams into three categories. Category I included nightmares of actual war experiences, which are typically replayed like recordings and are chronically recurrent. The repetitive Category I nightmares, which replicate actual traumatic events, are considered a hallmark feature of PTSD (Mack, 1992; Mellman, 2000). Category II nightmares contained plausible war events that did not actually occur, and sometimes include images from the dreamer’s past or present life. Category III dreams were like ordinary nightmares with a symbolic or metaphorical link to the trauma. Wilmer (1996) hypothesised that, through spontaneous healing or psychotherapy, trauma sufferers may progress from Category I dreams to Category III dreams, and that this process reflects the psyche’s attempt at healing. Both waking and dreaming changes seem, therefore, to reflect the remedial effect of time or therapy, showing continuity between dream content and waking concerns, preoccupations, and adjustment.
Garfield (1996) investigated the dreams of the bereaved, and found that their dreams reflected specific phases of mourning. She found that recently bereaved individuals who were in a mourning phase characterised by numbness, tended to have dreams containing more negative images of the deceased, with themes of Alive-again and Dying-again. Greater numbers of comforting dreams tended to be experienced by those in later stages of mourning, with themes of Young-well-again and Advice-comfort-gift. As with the dreams of trauma survivors, the dreams of Garfield’s subjects followed a pattern over time that reflected an adaptive, integrative process. The changes in dream content seemed to parallel the gradual waking adjustment that occurred at the same time. Such dream changes infer continuity between waking thought and sleeping mentation.
Siegel’s (1996) study of the dreams of 42 survivors of a Californian firestorm found that in the first post-fire weeks, dream content was associated with change in the psychological adjustment of survivors over a year later. Those survivors who were coping well up to 15 months later, tended to report a series of dreams that showed a progression toward mastery and diminishing focus on the Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 42
trauma, while those whose dreams showed a fixation on the trauma did not. Siegel found that the dreams of fire evacuees were significantly more likely to include content in particular categories than the dreams of individuals in a control group, who lived outside the evacuation zone. These categories included: Disasters, Death, Dreamer Injured, Fire/Heat, Man-Made Disasters, Dead Person Comes Alive, Teeth Falling Out, and Natural Disasters. Siegel suggested that dreams are like a window, through which the process of recovery from a natural disaster may be observed. In this study, dream content seemed to reflect a gradual recovery in participants that was continuous with adjustment to their waking concerns.
Meaning Without Function Theory
Some researchers and theorists have argued that dreams may be artefactual noise, a by-product, or an epiphenomenon of REM sleep (Blagrove, 1992a; Flanagan, 2000). These authors do not, however, argue that dreaming is complete nonsense, without any value whatsoever to the dreamer, but rather that dreams may be meaningful, revealing, and self-expressive reflections of our inner emotional concerns, without performing any particular function of their own. Domhoff (1993) has suggested that although dreams may have no function, we have invented uses for them, such as gaining insight into our innermost fears and concerns.
Hobson, Stickgold, and Pace-Schott (1998) have argued that: “From the neurobiological point of view it seems more likely that it is REM sleep itself, and not the subjective experience of dreaming, which has a functional significance for cognition that cannot easily be deduced from dream content…” They went on to argue that although dream content may be bizarre, the emotional content can also be salient and transparently meaningful, and therefore have the potential to be informative in a personal or clinical sense. Indeed, dream classification studies (Busink & Kuiken, 1996; Kuiken & Sikora, 1993) have shown that negatively toned dreams are often the most valued because of a sense that they deepen self- perception. Even if dreaming has no independent function, it may indeed reflect Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 43
many things about the dreamer as well as about the processes taking place during REM sleep.
If dreams have meaning but no function, as has been proposed by Blagrove, there is one particular question, raised by Antrobus (1993) about the evolution of dreaming that may be difficult to answer: If the execution of motor commands that are produced in the process of dreaming must be inhibited to stop us acting out our dreams, and if mammals have evolved in such a way as to facilitate this evolution, then why would the cognitive processes involved in dreaming have evolved in the first place? Although Antrobus himself speculates that this evolutionary fact may only support an instrumental function for some REM sleep processes, it remains a problematic issue for theories of dreaming having no function. Could not REM sleep get on with its important functions without the need for dreaming? And if so, why has evolution preserved this phenomenon, especially when dreams are liable to wake us up and interrupt REM sleep, as in the case of nightmares?
Dreams and Emotional Adjustment to Marital Separation
Several studies have investigated the sleep and manifest dream content of people undergoing marital separation and divorce. Lawrence (1999) examined the dream content of people who had suffered the loss of an important relationship through separation, divorce or death, and found that many of the dreams were directly related to the loss. Giles (2000) conducted a qualitative study of midlife, female divorcees and found that dream themes tended to reflect discrete steps of transition and transformation, as women negotiated the post-divorce period. Studying women in the process of divorce, Cartwright (1986) found that depressed individuals tended to have shorter, more recursive, dream reports and shorter REM latency than non-depressed participants. In addition, the dreams of depressed participants were more likely to be about the past, and contained themes of masochism, neediness, and vulnerability. Cartwright speculated that the Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 44
dream perseveration demonstrated emotional stasis and a failure to move forward in resolving emotional issues.
In another study of divorcing women, Cartwright, Lloyd, Knight and Trenholme (1984) also found that depressed participants were more likely to have shorter dreams that were focussed on the past, while non-depressed participants had longer dreams that were set in the past, present and future. The same study also found that stably married participants were more likely to have dreams about the laboratory situation, while divorcing participants tended to have more threatening dreams. Falk (1993) conducted a study with divorcing and recently divorced women who participated in dream groups for eight weeks. Falk found that the participants who were involved in the dream-sharing groups improved in self-esteem, coping, and anxiety, compared to the control group who attended a one-day seminar on dream interpretation. However, she found that there was no significant relationship between group treatment and change in level of depression. What these studies seem to show is that while dream-sharing may be helpful to divorcing women, the content of their dreams generally reflects their current mental state and preoccupations.
An influential study of dreams and adjustment to marital separation was that conducted by Cartwright (1991), in which 49 recently separated or divorcing participants were initially studied in the sleep laboratory for three nights, and followed up one year later. Thirty-one of the participants were diagnosed with depression using the Schedule of Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (SADS) interview and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). During the first two nights in the sleep laboratory, the participants were allowed to sleep and adapt to the environment. On the third night, they were monitored by electroencephalograph (EEG) and electromyograph (EMG) and awakened from each REM sleep period and asked to give a report of what they were dreaming. A tally was made of all instances where the former spouse was incorporated into the dreams. Five of the non-depressed and 13 of the depressed participants reported dreams with Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 45
incorporations of their ex-spouse. There was no difference between the initial BDI scores of incorporators and non-incorporators.
At follow-up one year later, participants were interviewed and rated by an independent interviewer on their adjustment to the divorce, using a 10 point scale, where 1 represented “not over it at all” and 10 equalled “fully recovered.” They also completed the BDI again to give a follow-up depression score. Those who had incorporated their ex-spouse into their dreams were significantly less depressed than those who had not. Among the initially non-depressed participants, there was no difference in follow-up BDI scores between incorporators and non- incorporators. Adjustment ratings for non-depressed participants were not reported. However, among the depressed participants, incorporators had significantly lower BDI scores and higher adjustment ratings than non- incorporators.
Cartwright (1991) interpreted this finding as the divorcees demonstrating active emotional “working through” problems during dreaming, with this process resulting in remission of depression and adaptation to the new life circumstances. The findings of this study have been cited often in the subsequent dream literature as evidence for the emotional adjustment theories (e.g., Barrett, 1993; Cartwright, 1996; Cartwright & Lamberg, 1992; Cartwright, Luten, Young, Mercer & Bears, 1998; Cartwright, Young, Mercer & Bears, 1998; Newell & Cartwright, 2000). Some (e.g., Barrett, 1993) have extrapolated that, in addition to such processes occurring spontaneously in dreaming, individuals may incubate dreams for the purpose of solving problems. Cartwright’s (1991) study and findings have been influential in the dreaming literature because they showed a link between dreaming about emotional problems and subsequent improvement in mental state.
Cartwright (1991) acknowledged that the small sample size and design of the study precluded any causal connections being made between dream content and improvement in depression. The significant comparison between initially depressed and non-depressed incorporators could only be made between 13 and Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 46
eight participants respectively. Only three of the depressed incorporators and eight of the depressed non-incorporators were depressed at follow-up. With so few still depressed at follow-up, it seems wise to be cautiously interpret the results. There is also the issue of dream data being collected on a single study night, and using a narrow definition of incorporation. Presuming an average number of REM episodes for each participant, there were only four to six opportunities to report dream content and dreams about aspects of the separation that did not include a direct reference to the ex-spouse were not counted as incorporations.
The study was acknowledged by Cartwright (1991) as suggestive, and she conjectured that personality variables might explain the link between dreams and remission in depression, although these were not measured in the study. Personality factors and coping strategies have been found to be influential in post- separation emotional wellbeing (Cohen & Dekel, 2000). Cartwright also recommended in a later publication (Cartwright, 1996) that the research be replicated, including investigation into the waking personality of participants, collection of more than one night’s dream reports, and follow-up at more than one time point. Cartwright and colleagues have conducted recent studies (Cartwright, Agargun, Kirkby & Friedman, 2006; Cartwright, Baehr, Kirkby, Pandi-Perumal & Kabat, 2003) with a similar population to the 1991 study, but the findings suggest that the results with regard to dream incorporation of stressors and adjustment have not been precisely replicated. The current series of studies aimed to address some of these issues in exploring consistency with Cartwright’s work. It particularly aimed to elucidate the role of personality factors, such as ego strength and boundary thickness, and coping style in determining adjustment and ascertain the relative importance of this role in relation to dream content. It is hypothesised that personality and coping style will be more significant predictors of adjustment than dream content. The relationship between dreaming, personality and adjustment are considered in the next section.
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Personality Variables and Adjustment
There are numerous factors that influence how well and how quickly an individual will recover from the effects of a stressful or traumatic life event such as a marital separation, or even whether or not the individual recovers at all (Wang & Amato, 2000). Some of these factors are personal characteristics of the individual, such as personality, resilience, earlier experiences, self-efficacy, and coping skills (Garvin, Kalter & Hansell, 1993). Still other factors relate to interpersonal features, such as levels of social support, relationship quality, and conflict (Demo & Acock, 1996; Gray & Silver, 1990). Then there are factors that exist at a community or structural level, such as employment opportunities, financial support, government policies, and community services (Amato, 2000).
The divorce literature emphasises the importance of two types of inner resources, in addition to material resources: psychological resources and coping strategies (Andrew & Robinson, 1991; Booth & Amato, 1992; Cohen & Dekel, 2000; Demo & Acock, 1996). According to Pearlin and Schooler (1978), psychological resources are the personality characteristics that people may draw upon to create resilience in relation to threats and events, while coping strategies are the cognitions, perceptions, and behaviours that they actually use when contending with life challenges. Several personality factors, including ego strength, boundary thickness, neuroticism and openness to experience, have been found to be correlated with dream content and distress in relation to nightmares (Berquier & Ashton, 1992; Blagrove & Akehurst, 2000; Hartmann, 1990; Hartmann, Rand & Rosen, 1998; Levin, Fireman & Rackley, 2003; Schredl, Landgraf & Zeiler, 2003). Among these, ego strength and boundary thickness have emerged as particularly strong predictors of dream content and experiences (Funkhouser, Wurmle, Cornu & Bahro, 2001; Kaminer & Lavie, 1991, 1993; Lavie & Kaminer, 1996; Levin, 1989; Tonay, 1995; Watson, 2001).
Ego Strength
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 48
Ego strength is a construct that involves personal resilience and a predisposition to be emotionally stable and self-sufficient (Grieser, Greenberg & Harrison, 1972). It is possible that the participants who recovered best, and showed lower levels of depression over time, in Cartwright’s (1991) study, were individuals with high ego strength. Individuals with high ego strength have good contact with reality, are personally resourceful, are better at making adaptations to change, and more able to use defence mechanisms to manage their anxiety levels (Burns, 1991). At the other end of the spectrum, people with low ego strength are less adjusted, have a weaker sense of reality, tend to worry more about their physical health, and have a limited capacity to cope when under stress (Grieser, Greenberg & Harrison, 1972; Levin, 1989). In her studies of adjustment after divorce, Thomas (1982, 1995) found that the best-adjusted participants scored significantly higher on nine dimensions of personality, including ego strength, than the poorest adjusted participants.
Ego strength was measured by Kaminer and Lavie (1991, 1993) in their studies of dreams and adjustment following massive trauma in holocaust survivors. They found that survivors who had stronger ego forces were more repressive and better adjusted than those who had low ego strength. Their research suggested that survivors who adjusted better actually dreamed less; not only less about the trauma, but also less in general (Kaminer & Lavie, 1991,1993; Lavie & Kaminer, 1991, 1996). They found that the less-adjusted survivors were more likely to admit to weaknesses and traumas about the past, and tended to express anxiety and tension. They also slept less, had lower sleep efficiency, and reported more sleep difficulties than the well-adjusted survivors.
The content of the dreams of well-adjusted survivors with higher ego strength was more likely to relate to the present than the past. The dreams of the less-adjusted survivors, on the other hand, were more likely to be nightmares and anxiety dreams, and contained more threatening material, and the dreamers were often represented as victims. Kaminer and Lavie’s findings suggest that when it comes to adjusting after massive trauma, repression of past experiences, both Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 49
during waking life and sleep may be more adaptive than expression of them. They also suggest that in such circumstances, those with higher ego strength were better able to repress their traumatic experiences, both in their dreaming and walking lives.
Boundary Thickness
Boundary thickness is a personality construct that has been widely researched in the dream and nightmare literature, although it has not before been investigated in relation to marital separation. Boundary thickness relates to the relative permeability of internal and external boundaries of an individual, and refers to the tendency and ability of an individual to separate mental processes and states, as well as interpersonal delineations (Belicki, 1992a; Claridge, Clark & Davis, 1997; Hartmann, Rand & Rosen, 1998; Levin & Sand, 1996; Pietrowsky & Köthe, 2003). Boundary thickness is correlated with other personality measures such as neuroticism and openness (Hartmann, Harrison & Zborowski, 2001; Schredl, Ciric, Gotz & Wittmann, 2003).
People with thin boundaries tend to be more emotionally affected by internal and external stimuli, and have trouble distinguishing between fantasy and reality (Funkhouser, Wurmle, Cornu & Bahro, 2001; Watson, 2001). They are also more emotional, imaginative, and spontaneous, have less clear personal space, tend to lose themselves in relationships and operate under less structure (Barbuto & Plummer, 2000; Funkhouser, Wurmle, Cornu & Bahro, 2001; Hartmann, 1997; Hartmann, 2000; Hartmann, Harrison & Zborowski, 2001; Levin, 1990; Wolcott & Strapp, 2002). People who have thin boundaries tend to pay more attention to their dreams, have higher dream recall, attach more meaning to their dreams, and tend to relive the details of dreams and nightmares (Pietrowsky & Köthe, 2003; Schredl, Schafer, Hofmann & Jacob, 1999). Thin boundaries have also been found to be correlated with highly emotional, bizarre, and vivid dreams (Claridge, Clark & Davis, 1997; Hartmann, 1997; Hartmann, 2000; Miro & Martinez, 2005). Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 50
In contrast, people who have thicker boundaries rarely daydream or fantasise, have lower dream recall, and are more emotionally cautious (Barbuto & Plummer, 2000; Hartmann, 1997; Hartmann, 2000; Schredl, Ciric, Gotz & Wittmann, 2003). They also have a more definite sense of self, and are more rigid and “black and white” (Hartmann, 1997; Hartmann, 2000; Hartmann, Harrison & Zborowski, 2001; Hartmann, Houran & Thalbourne, 2003). It is suggested that separated individuals with thicker boundaries may be both less likely to experience dreams of their stressors and more likely to adjust to their situation.
Coping Style
In studies of the impact of marital separation, there are wide individual differences in adjustment, some of which may reflect differences in coping strategies (Zautra, Sheets & Sandler, 1996). Although not a personality factor in the strict sense, coping style is a vitally important variable that influences an individual’s wellbeing and adjustment following difficult and stressful life events (Cohen, 2000). Some researchers (e.g., Carver, Scheier & Weintraub, 1989, Epstein & Katz, 1992) have regarded coping styles as stable individual dispositions in terms of specific cognitive and behavioural responses to stressful life events. People experiencing marital separation and divorce are frequently dealing with multiple stressors, such as financial hardship, conflictual relationships, loneliness, and difficulties of single parenting (Compas & Williams, 1990; Demo & Acock, 1996; Garvin, Kalter & Hansell, 1993). Coping is experimentally and conceptually independent of personality, but it is likely to be directly affected by personality resources (Pearlin & Schooler, 1978).
Numerous studies have found a link between coping style and adjustment following marital separation and divorce. Cohen (2000) studied coping style as a personality resource in relation to divorced mothers dealing with the divorce crisis and found that mothers who used more effective coping strategies had a higher sense of coherence and wellbeing, and derived more benefit from the coping strategies they used. Another study of divorcing parents (Karpowicz, 2004) found that a significant determinant of positive post-divorce outcomes was the use of Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 51
particular coping strategies. Waters (1997) examined coping style in relation to post-divorce adjustment and found that problem-focused coping style was positively correlated with adjustment, while more emotion-focussed coping was negatively related to adjustment. Other studies have found that active rather than passive coping strategies are more effective in the divorce situation (e.g., Holloway & Machida, 1991), while others have suggested that different modes of coping suit different situations (Cohen & Dekel, 2000). Zautra, Sheets and Sandler (1996) found that coping style was related to the level of distress following marital separation but that coping style did not account for changes in distress over time. Stewart (2005) found that intrapsychic factors such as coping style were more important determinants of post-separation adjustment than demographic and other contextual factors. In their study of the health of divorced individuals, Richmond and Christensen (2000) found that the physical and psychological health of divorcees was significantly related to the use of effective coping strategies, such as reframing and acquiring social support.
It seems clear that investigations into adjustment following major life stressors such as marital separation must incorporate some measures of personal resources, such as personality and coping, as these are likely to influence the adjustment outcomes. As Cartwright (1991) asserted, personality variables may constitute an explanatory link between dreams that incorporate stressors and adjustment to those stressors. Another possibility is that personality variables may more directly explain adjustment, with dream content contributing little or no influence to the adjustment outcome. The current research aimed to include personality and coping style variables in order to more clearly explicate the relationships between dream content, personal resources and adjustment.
Limitations of Previous Research
Previous research that has investigated the relationship between dream content and adjustment in people experiencing major stressful life events has Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 52
tended to overlook some important issues. Some studies have not collected enough dream data, for example, by only collecting dream content from one night’s laboratory awakenings. Some studies have not followed up participants over a long enough period, or perhaps only measured adjustment at one time point. This does not acknowledge or take into account the possible fluctuations in adjustment that may have occurred throughout the longitudinal study period. Some studies have not taken into account personality or coping styles, important individual differences which have been shown to also have a large impact on the wellbeing and adjustment of people experiencing such challenges as marital separation (Cohen, 2000; Karpowicz, 2004). Factors residing within the individual may influence adjustment directly or indirectly by at least partly determining initial or baseline adjustment (Andrew & Robinson, 1991; Booth & Amato, 1992; Cohen & Dekel, 2000; Demo & Acock, 1996, Wang & Amato, 2000). In addition, there is a possibility that such factors may also contribute to dream themes and content, posing a potential third link in the relationship between dream content and adjustment.
Aims of Current Research
Previous research has shown that dream content often reflects waking life, particularly waking emotional preoccupations. Some theorists (e.g., Barrett, 1993; Cartwright & Lamberg, 1992) have suggested a link between the extent of incorporation of waking stressors into dreams and the subsequent adjustment of the dreamer, arguing that incorporation demonstrates an efficient processing of emotional material during sleep. In general, this suggested link forms the basis of the emotional adjustment or adaptation theories of dream function.
Other theorists (e.g., Blagrove, 1996; Domhoff, 2003) have argued that the link between dream incorporations of stressors and waking life is a simple continuity between waking and sleeping mentation that does not represent an adaptive process. This contention forms the basis of some of the cognitive theories of dreaming, including the continuity theory of dream content and the Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 53
theory that dreams have no independent adaptive function. The findings of Cartwright’s (1991) study of the dream content and adjustment of divorcees has been interpreted as evidence that dreams function to process emotional problems and reduce depression in relation to life stressors. Thus, Cartwright’s (1991) findings constitute a central set of evidence supporting the emotional adaptation theory of dream function.
The findings of other studies (e.g., Koulack, Prevost & De Koninck, 1985; Kramer, Schoen & Kinney, 1984; Zadra, O’Brien & Donderi, 1997-1998) have shown correlations between dream incorporations of stressors and poor subsequent adjustment. The findings of these studies are congruent with the cognitive theories of dream content.
The overall aim of the thesis was to determine which of two sets of theories of dreaming could be supported by the results of a series of studies: the functional theories or the cognitive theories. A combination of cross-sectional and longitudinal approaches was used, incorporating several different methods of data collection (questionnaire, dream diary, REM awakenings). Importantly, some relevant aspects of personality, ego strength, boundary thickness, and coping style, were also taken into account, and adjustment was measured as a multidimensional concept, including measures of satisfaction with life, depression, self-rated adjustment, and impact of the (separation) event.
Support for the functional theories of dreaming could be demonstrated firstly by a significant association between dream incorporation of the stressor, the ex-spouse/separation, and adjustment at follow-up. Further, emotional adjustment function could be demonstrated by significant prediction of adjustment across the four adjustment measures from incorporation of the ex-spouse or separation into initial dream content. If such a result was found, it may be explained by the inclusion of personality variables in the analyses, or it may show an independent effect of dream content. If consistency with Cartwright’s (1991) findings was found, this series of studies would be expected to show that incorporations of the Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 54
ex-spouse/separation would predict lower levels of depression at follow-up, once initial depression levels were taken into account. In addition, threat simulation and rehearsal functions could be demonstrated by significant prediction of adjustment from incorporation of threat into initial dream content.
On the other hand, if dreams do not have any adaptive function, but rather reflect the current emotional concerns of the dreamer as the cognitive theories of dreaming would predict, then it could be expected that those who have the most severe emotional concerns might dream more about those concerns. There would be a significant negative association between dream incorporations of the stressor and initial adjustment, although more variance in predicting initial adjustment might be accounted for by personality variables. As with Siegel’s (1996) findings in relation to adjustment in firestorm survivors, fewer dreams focusing on the stressor would predict better adjustment over time, as would the level of initial adjustment. Furthermore, fewer dreams containing threat would be more likely to be associated with initial adjustment, and quite possibly, mastery of threat in dreams might predict better adjustment over time.
Research Questions and Hypotheses
The central research question addressed by this series of studies was whether dreams serve an emotional adjustment function or whether dreams reflect the current waking concerns and initial adjustment of the dreamer. This question was investigated in the context of adjustment to marital separation. It was hypothesised that if the functional theories of dreaming were supported, dreaming of the stressor would be found to be adaptive, and positively related to follow-up adjustment. However, if the continuity theory of dreaming was supported, dreams of the stressor would reflect current concerns, and preoccupation with the stressor would lead to more dreams of the stressor and poorer follow-up adjustment. Thus, the continuity theory would predict a negative relationship between dream incorporations of the stressor and initial adjustment, and consequently, a negative relationship between dream incorporations and follow-up adjustment. Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 55
An additional research question was whether the relationship between dream content and adjustment might reflect an individual’s personality. This question involved the investigation of personality variables in predicting initial adjustment. A finding of a significant relationship between personality and dream incorporation and/or initial adjustment would be consistent with both the cognitive and functional theories of dreaming.
The current research aimed to address some of the methodological issues raised in previous research through the utilisation of multiple methods of data collection. The research tested whether the results would be consistent when dream content was collected via questionnaire, dream diary or laboratory REM- awakenings, although it could be expected that recall involved in the different methodologies might result in some variation. Some dream theorists (e.g. Greenberg et al., 1970; Kramer, 1993) have suggested that only unrecalled (and thus, uninterrupted) dreams are able to fulfil their emotional adjustment function. A finding that dream incorporations of the stressor, collected via REM- awakenings, predicted adjustment over time, whereas incorporations collected via retrospective survey or dream diary recordings did not, would be supportive of this suggestion.
Design of the Research
Study 1 was designed to examine whether dream content reflected a process of adjustment in people who had recently experienced a marital separation, and thus test the functional theories of dreaming which posit that dreaming acts to help individuals make an emotional adjustment to a personally challenging situation, as well as the cognitive theories which posit that dream content is continuous with waking preoccupations and concerns, and has meaning, but no function. In testing the functional theories of dreaming, this study was designed to explore consistency with Cartwright’s (1991) study of separated individuals, whilst additionally investigating personality variables as contributing Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 56
factors, and measuring adjustment as a multidimensional construct. The study aimed to ascertain whether or not more dreaming about the current stressor, early in the recovery period, would predict greater adjustment three months, and 12 months, afterwards. Study One used a longitudinal design, following a group of separated participants, and a comparison group of married participants over a total 12 month period.
Study 2 was a qualitative and quantitative study, involving detailed analysis of 42 dream diaries, which were kept by a sub-group of separated participants from Study 1, over a period of four weeks. This study was designed to capture more detailed qualitative information about the dreams of this subset of separated participants, by allowing for the identification of the most common dream themes in individuals undergoing marital separation. In addition, this study examined the dream content for incorporation of threat and threat mastery, and aimed to investigate whether these factors predicted adjustment, initially and over time. Study 2 allowed for dream content to be measured using an alternative methodology to Study 1, and thus was able to assess whether or not the results of the two studies would be convergent.
Study 3 consisted of Case Study analyses, which were designed and conducted with eight of Study Two’s 42 participants in order to capture something of the complexity of how dreamers, matched on initial adjustment, who made greater adjustment changes differed from those who made lesser adjustment changes, in terms of their dream content and prominent dream themes. If the dreams of those who made greater adjustment over a fixed period of time were found to be different in thematic content to the dreams of those who made lesser adjustment over the same period of time, this would illuminate what types of dream content could predict adjustment over time. If they were not found to be different, it could be more confidently claimed that dream content was unrelated to adjustment over time. This detailed study also allowed for the collection of contextual information about the circumstances of the separation, so that this could also be taken into account in attempting to explain differences in adjustment Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 57
changes over time. Using the triangulation approach, the case study data collection also provided an opportunity to both enrich and validate the quantitative findings of Study 1.
Study 4 was designed to further explore the relationship between dream content and adjustment, using a comprehensive set of methodologies for dream data collection. A smaller study, Study 4 took a separate group of separated participants and measured dream content and incorporation of the stressor through the use of a questionnaire, dream diary, and REM awakenings in a sleep laboratory. Where Study 1 had utilised the questionnaire method as a means of gathering information about participants’ dream content, and Study 2 had utilised the dream diary method, Study 4 additionally collected relevant data through REM awakenings in a sleep laboratory. In addition, Study 4 allowed for investigation of the relationship between adjustment and latency to REM sleep. Figure 2.1 outlines a flowchart of the design of the different studies and stages of the research project.
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 58
STUDY ONE Separated & Married Participants Longitudinal
Initial Questionnaire STUDY TWO STUDY THREE Separated Sub-Group Separated Sub-Group Dream Diaries Case Studies (4 Weeks)
Follow-Up Follow-Up Questionnaire Questionnaire (3 Month Point) (12 Month Point)
STUDY FOUR Separated Participants Longitudinal
Initial Testing Questionnaire Dream Diary (2 weeks) REM Awakenings in Sleep Lab (Single Night)
Follow-Up Testing (3 Month Point) Adjustment Questionnaire
Figure 2.1. Flowchart of Design and Stages of the Research Project.
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 59
CHAPTER THREE: STUDY ONE
RATIONALE, METHODOLOGY, AND RESULTS
Chapter Contents Rationale for Study One Study Design Method Participants Study Participation Effects Attrition Materials Dreams and Sleep Dream Content Dream Frequency Nightmare Frequency and Distress Sleep Length Personality Variables Ego Strength Boundary Thickness Coping Style Adjustment Life Satisfaction Depression Self-Rated Adjustment Impact of (Separation) Event Study Participation Effects Design Procedure Results Data Cleaning and Screening Sleep Length Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 60
Dream Content Differences Between Separated and Married Participants Adjustment Over Time Satisfaction With Life and Depression Self-rated Adjustment and Impact of (Separation) Event (Separated Participants Only) Correlations Between Personality, Sleep and Dream Variables and Adjustment Prediction of Initial Adjustment Prediction of Adjustment Over Time Prediction of Depression Over Time in Depressed and Non- Depressed Separated Participants Chapter Discussion Summary and Conclusions
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 61
Rationale for Study One
A small body of research (e.g., Barrett, 1993; Cartwright, 1991) relating to individuals who have experienced major stressful life events is often cited as support for the theory that dreams serve the specific function of helping us to adjust or adapt to current events. Some authors (e.g., Antrobus, 1993; Blagrove, 1992a, 1996; Domhoff, 2003) have questioned the findings and their implications for the function of dreaming. Several authors have put the emotional problem- solving or adjustment theories forth since the 1960s (e.g., Breger, 1967; French and Fromm, 1964; Greenberg et al., 1970; Hartmann, 1995, 1996b, 1998a; Jones, 1962; Kramer, 1991, 1993). These theories have been challenged by several researchers (e.g., Blagrove, 1992a, 2000; Domhoff, 1993, 2001a; Flanagan, 2000; Hobson, Stickgold, & Pace-Schott, 1998), who have contended that there is little evidence to support a direct adaptive function of dreaming. They have suggested that dreams are more likely to be an accidental by-product of REM sleep, which may itself perform a cognitive function in relation to memory and the processing of emotional material. At the same time, Blagrove (1992a) suggests that dreams, like waking thought, may relate strongly to what most concerns us at any given time, and like waking speech, dreams may represent these concerns metaphorically. Blagrove (1992a) has argued that dreams “are like a linguistic translation of waking concerns and known solutions, rather than an environment in which novel attempts to solve problems may be made” (p. 205).
The research conducted in Study 1 was designed to examine whether dream content reflected a process of adjustment in people who had recently experienced a marital separation. Recently separated individuals were chosen as the focus of this study in an effort to explore consistency with Cartwright’s (1991) study that is often cited as providing evidence for the emotional problem-solving paradigm of dream function. As Hartmann (1998a) has rightly pointed out, one way to demonstrate an adaptive function of dreams would be to show some significant differences indicating better adaptation in persons who had dreamed Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 62
specific types of dreams following a trauma or stressor, compared to those who had not. He suggests, as do others, that Cartwright’s (1991) study at least approaches such a design and is able to show such an effect. Blagrove (1992a, 2000), Domhoff (1993, 2001a), and Cartwright herself (1996) point out that direct incorporations of the problem into dreams cannot be assumed to have caused better adjustment. This study attempted to explore consistency with, and extend the work of Cartwright (1991) by addressing some of the limitations of the original study. Participants were followed up twice during 12 months, instead of only once; individual differences were taken into account; and adjustment was measured with four measures, two of which (including depression) were more general, and two of which were specifically anchored to the separation event.
Like any group undergoing a significantly difficult and traumatic life event, it could be presumed that the stressor, marital separation, would likely be at the forefront of the minds of these individuals, and certainly would represent a waking concern of considerable import. The study was thus designed to test the theory that dreaming functions to help individuals to make an emotional adjustment to a personally challenging situation. Using participants who had recently undergone a marital separation, Study 1 attempted to ascertain whether or not more dreaming about the current stressor, early in the recovery period, was predictive of greater adjustment several months afterwards. If the results were consistent with the emotional adjustment theories of dream function, a positive relationship between dream incorporation of the stressor and improvement in adjustment would be expected. If the results were consistent with the cognitive theories of dreaming, a negative relationship, or no relationship, between dream incorporation of the stressor and adjustment improvement would be expected.
The rate of marital separation and divorce in Australia is 18% higher than it was a decade ago, but the divorce rate has stabilised since 1998 (ABS, 2004). There were 54,000 divorces granted in Australia in 2002, with an expected 32% of marriages ending in divorce (ABS, 2004). The increased rate of divorce, compared to 10 to 30 years ago, is thought to be due to several factors: Increased Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 63
opportunities for women to work and receive social support; acceptance of divorce as a preferred alternative to a destructive marriage; rising expectations for personal fulfilment from marriage; greater social acceptance of divorce; and law reform leading to more equality in the legal process of divorce (Cherlin, 1992; Furstenberg, 1994; South & Spitze, 1986; White, 1991).
The impact of divorce on those going through it is enormous and frequently devastating. It is one of the most traumatic experiences that many people experience in their lifetimes. Typically, marital separation is a painful experience, largely because almost everyone who enters into a marriage does so with the expectation that it will be a rewarding and mutually supportive long-term relationship (Amato, 2000). While separation may benefit some people, others will suffer a temporary decline in wellbeing, which improves over time, and still others experience negative effects from which they may never fully recover (Amato, 2000).
People making the transition from marriage to divorce have been found by longitudinal studies to report an increase in symptoms of depression, an increase in alcohol use, and decreases in happiness, mastery, and self-acceptance (Aseltine & Kessler, 1993; Hope, Power, & Rodgers, 1999; Marks & Lambert, 1998; Power, Rodgers, & Hope, 1999). Quite typically, the loss of a marital relationship leads to feelings of grief, sadness, bitterness, ambivalence, low self-esteem, embarrassment, and a sense of failure (Kaslow, 1995, 2001; McCall, 1982; Todorski, 1995). The separation frequently means a disruption to the individuals’ social and psychological identity, image, and roles (La Gaipa, 1982).
Some of the factors which influence reactions to marital separation and divorce include: disruptions in parent-child relationships; conflict between ex- spouses (Masheter, 1991); loss of emotional support from others (Marks, 1996; O'Connor, Hawkins, Dunn, Thorpe, & Golding, 1998; Ross, 1995); economic hardship (Booth & Amato, 1991; Garvin, Kalter & Hansell, 1993; Kitson, 1992; Ross, 1995; Shapiro, 1996; Simons & Associates, 1996; Thabes, 1997); and an increase in the number of other stressful life events, such as moving (DeGarmo & Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 64
Kitson, 1996; Kitson, 1992; Lorenz, et al., 1997; Miller, Smerglia, Gaudet, & Kitson, 1998; O'Connor et al., 1998; Simons & Associates, 1996). Adjustment is affected by factors such as inter-spouse acrimony, social isolation, social support, and sex role attitudes, among many other factors (Blattner & Jacobsen, 1993; Bursik, 1991).
There are also factors which are known to moderate the speed and extent of adjustment, such as education (Booth & Amato, 1991; Demo & Acock, 1996; Goldberg, Greenberger, Hamill & O’Neil, 1992) employment (Booth & Amato, 1991; Demo & Acock, 1996; Kitson, 1992), networks of supportive kin and friends (Garvin, Kalter & Hansell, 1993; Goldberg et al., 1992; Lawson & Thompson, 1996; Thabes, 1997), support from a new partner, and being the spouse who initiated the divorce (Amato, 2000).
Studies have found that most adjustment has been made by two to three years after separation, with levels of unhappiness, distress, depression, alcohol consumption, and health problems having largely subsided by that time (Booth & Amato, 1991; Goldberg, et al., 1992; Kitson, 1992; Lorenz et al., 1997). Depending upon a number of variables, such as age, length of marriage, and the nature of the post-marital relationship with the ex-partner, it typically takes from two to seven years for divorcees to adjust to their marriage breakdown, achieve a sense of competency and wholeness, and move on (Blattner & Jacobsen, 1993; Kaslow, 1995). While many individuals experiencing separation improve over time, as many as one fourth seem to get worse and go backwards in terms of adjustment (Kitson, 1992). For some though, divorce is a crisis that triggers a turning point, marked by personal growth, insight, and self-understanding (Nathanson, 1995).
Research on divorce and divorcees has consistently shown that divorce is associated with a variety of problematic outcomes (Aseltine & Kessler, 1993; Hope, Rodgers, & Power, 1999; Marks & Lambert, 1998; Power, Rodgers, & Hope, 1999; Richards, Hardy, & Wadsworth, 1997). According to the divorce- stress-adjustment perspective of divorce research, marital disruption causes Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 65
extreme stress, resulting in adjustment problems. This theoretical perspective makes the assumption that marital dissolution increases the risk of negative outcomes in most cases.
An alternative perspective is the selection hypothesis (Mastekaasa, 1992), which suggests that particular psychological characteristics predispose certain individuals to experience separation and divorce. An intriguing study that followed 278 couples from their engagements in the 1930s through to the 1980s, found that personality characteristics such as neuroticism and impulse control (as rated by acquaintances in the 1930s) predicted their marital stability and satisfaction (Kelly & Conley, 1987). According to the selection perspective, it is these problematic personal characteristics that not only predispose them to divorce, but also result in them scoring low on indicators of adjustment and well- being after the marriage ends. It is suggested that the adjustment problems frequently seen among the divorced might be present early in the marriage or might even predate the marriage. The research of Huston, Caughlin, Houts, Smith, and George (2001) supported this proposition with the finding that negativity during courtship and early marriage predicted unhappy marriages and divorce 13 years later.
There is evidence that is consistent with the premise that people bring traits into their marriage that increases the risk of divorce. These include antisocial personality traits, depression, and a general history of psychological problems (Capaldi & Patterson, 1991; Davies, Avison, & McAlpine, 1997; Hope, Power, & Rodgers, 1999; Kitson, 1992; Kurdek, 1990). Richards, Hardy and Wadsworth (1997) found a significant association between divorce and psychopathology, even amongst the divorcees in their study who had remarried or reunited with their spouses, and regardless of time elapsed since the first separation.
While the divorce-stress-adjustment perspective is based on the assumption that marital disruption causes adjustment problems, the selection perspective assumes that adjustment problems cause marital disruption (Amato, Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 66
2000). Some longitudinal studies support the selection hypothesis. For example, depression in women at age 23 was found to predict whether or not individuals became single mothers by age 33 (Hope, Rodgers & Power, 1999). Another study found that divorcees often had a history of depression that predated the marriage, as well as childhood adversity (Davies, Avison & McAlpine, 1997). When family- of-origin factors were controlled for, there was a decreased effect of divorce on adult depression, which supported the selection hypothesis. Kinnunen and Pulkkinen’s (2003) longitudinal study, which followed over 350 Finnish people from age 8 to age 36, found that low emotional regulation in childhood significantly predicted marital outcomes.
Of course, both divorce-stress-adjustment and selection may be operating together in many, if not most, separated individuals. For example, individuals who have vulnerable personalities or tendencies towards less emotional stability or resilience prior to the separation may then display even more emotional problems following separation (Amato, 2000). Furthermore, some individuals who are prone to emotional instability but function reasonably within marriage may, when facing the stress of separation, decompensate and function quite poorly in the aftermath of that experience.
The set of factors that is most important in relation to adjustment after a stressful life event, such as a marital separation, is that of individual personal characteristics (Cohen & Dekel, 2000). Regardless of whether the divorce itself or selection is operating in a causative sense, personal characteristics are likely to be crucial in determining adjustment outcomes. There are numerous personal characteristics that could be examined in relation to adjustment to a stressful life event, but personality and coping skills stand out in their ability to influence many aspects of adjustment (Amato, 2000). For example, personality is likely to affect a person’s ability to reconstruct social networks and form new intimate relationships (Amato, 2000). Coping skills are likely to have a great impact on how effectively the individual cognitively appraises events, and manages the changes and distress that may be associated with separation. Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 67
An important subsidiary question was that of whether the results would be consistent with Cartwright’s (1991) finding that dream incorporation predicted remission of depression in depressed separated participants. A finding that dream incorporation of the stressor predicted remission in depression over time would be consistent with Cartwright’s finding.
An additional research question addressed by Study 1 was: Would the relationship between dream incorporation, personality variables, and adjustment be different for married and separated participants? Cognitive theories of dreaming would predict similar relationships between dream incorporation, personality and initial adjustment across both groups, but it was expected that any effects over time would be minimal in married participants, as there ought to be only random fluctuation in their adjustment.
Continuity theory presumes a reciprocal relationship between dream content and waking preoccupations, and such a relationship could also be presumed between dream content and factors relating to the individual, such as personality and coping style. For this reason, the current study included measures of relevant personality and coping style factors. With these factors included in regression analyses, it might be possible to evaluate the relative influence of such individual differences and dream content, in relation to adjustment. Three individual difference variables were considered that might have influenced adjustment. These were ego strength, boundary thickness, and coping style. According to cognitive theories such as the continuity theory, personality and coping factors may influence waking preoccupation with stressors, and thereby influence both dream content and adjustment.
The relationships between individual differences and sleep length, dream frequency, nightmare frequency, and nightmare distress were also explored. Nightmare frequency has consistently been shown to be associated with acute life stress (Cernovsky, 1984; Chivers & Blagrove, 1999; Hartmann, 1984, 1998a; Pagel, Vann & Altomare, 1995; Schredl, 2003; Wood et al., 1992), but findings Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 68
regarding the relationship between personality traits, such as boundary thickness, and nightmare frequency have been largely contradictory (e.g., Belicki, 1992b; Chivers & Blagrove, 1999; Hartmann, Russ, van der Kolk, Falke & Oldfield, 1981; Levin & Raulin, 1991). Belicki (1992a,b) has suggested that it is more useful to consider the relationship between nightmare distress and personality factors, and indeed, recent investigations of such correlations have yielded somewhat more consistent results. However, it has been suggested that nightmare distress may itself be, at least partially, a trait factor (Blagrove, Farmer & Williams, 2004; Levin & Fireman, 2002). As such, nightmare distress might be more a function of personality than of nightmare content, and nightmare frequency more a function of acute stress. It was therefore predicted that there would be a significant correlation between nightmare frequency and adjustment, and a significant relationship between nightmare distress and the individual difference factors measured, particularly ego strength and boundary thickness.
Adjustment in relation to a specific stressor such as a marital separation occurs across several dimensions of emotional experience and functioning. Wellbeing and adjustment are multidimensional phenomena that may best be measured through a combination of measurable factors that assess subjective distress and impact of the stressor on the individual’s life and functioning. For this reason, four different adjustment factors were measured in this study.
Study Design
The study used a longitudinal design, following a group of separated participants, and a comparison group of married participants over a 12-month period. Participants were assessed on two sets of predictor variables at initial testing: dream and sleep variables, and personality variables. In addition, four measures of baseline adjustment were assessed: satisfaction with life, depression, self-rated adjustment, and impact of the separation event. Three months later, adjustment was re-assessed, and in addition, married participants were assessed on marital satisfaction. At the 12-month point, adjustment was again reassessed, Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 69
along with benefit of study participation and two variables relating to nightmare experiences. Table 3.1 provides an outline of the data collection that took place across the 12-month longitudinal period of Study 1.
Method
Participants In all, 190 people participated in the first study. Of these participants, 97 were recently separated (73) and divorced (24) and 93 were married. Seventy-five of the separated participants were female and 22 were male. The 93 married participants (32 males, 61 females) were recruited to act as a comparison group. The married group did not differ significantly from the separated group in age, years of marriage, current hours of sleep, number of dreams per week, nightmare frequency, or nightmare distress. The average age of married participants was 38.81 years (SD = 9.02 years), and the average age of separated participants was 37.01 years (SD = 10.03 years).
Married participants were in either a legal marriage or permanent de facto relationship. Married participants had been in their relationships for 11.16 years, on average. Separated participants had been in their relationships for an average of 8.95 years, prior to the separation. Among the separated and divorced (hereafter referred to as separated) participants, length of separation varied from 1 week to 114 months1 (M = 16 months, SD = 18 months). Modal length of separation was 18 months, and the Median was 11 months. To be included in the study, separated participants had to have undergone the breakdown of a significant personal relationship or marriage, and they had to regard the separation as being a current issue for them. For example, they were undergoing divorce after a long period of
1 Note: Eighteen participants had been separated for over 24 months. While others who had been separated for as long were screened out of the study, the cases that were included were cases where the separation and divorce was still considered to be a currently stressful and significant issue, with unresolved problems or conflicts remaining. For example, eight participants were screened out because they had been separated over 24 months, had divorced many months previously and were now in new, stable relationships. Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 70
ambiguous or sporadic separation; there were restraining orders currently in place; or property settlements were still being negotiated. Table 3.1.
Design of Data Collection for Study 1
SEPARATED PARTICIPANTS MARRIED PARTICIPANTS (EXPERIMENTAL GROUP) (COMPARISON GROUP)
INITIAL TESTING INITIAL TESTING
Demographic data Demographic data Personality Factors Personality Factors Ego Strength Ego Strength Boundary Thickness Boundary Thickness Coping Style Dream and Sleep Factors Dream and Sleep Factors Sleep Length Sleep Length Dreams of Partner/Marriage Dreams of Ex-Partner/Separation Dream Frequency Dream Frequency Baseline Adjustment Baseline Adjustment Satisfaction With Life Satisfaction With Life Depression Depression Self-Rated Adjustment Impact of Event
FOLLOW-UP (3 MONTHS) FOLLOW-UP (3 MONTHS)
Adjustment Adjustment Satisfaction With Life Satisfaction With Life Depression Depression Self-Rated Adjustment Marital Factors Impact of Event Marital Satisfaction Relationship Satisfaction
FOLLOW-UP (12 MONTHS) FOLLOW-UP (12 MONTHS)
Dream Factors Dream Factors Nightmare Frequency Nightmare Frequency Nightmare Distress Nightmare Distress Adjustment Adjustment Satisfaction With Life Satisfaction With Life Depression Depression Self-Rated Adjustment Study Participation Effects Impact of Event Study Participation Effects
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 71
The married participants were also studied across the 12 month study period to provide a means of monitoring the effects of extraneous factors on adjustment. Because scores on coping style, self-rated adjustment to the separation, and impact of event were factors that were specifically anchored to the event of separation, these could not be measured in the married participants. However, it was possible to measure their levels of depression and satisfaction with life, at each time point. The personality variables of ego strength and boundary thickness were measured across both groups of participants.
The occupational distribution of the married participants was similar across some employment bands to that of the separated participants, with 29% of married participants and 33% of separated participants being unemployed or engaged in studies or home duties, and 3% of both married and separated participants being retired. However, there were some differences in other employment bands, with a greater proportion of separated individuals working in unskilled or semi-skilled employment (33% of married; 37% of separated) and a smaller proportion of separated participants working in skilled or professional roles (34% of married; 27% of separated). The majority of married (78%) and separated (85%) participants were of Australian nationality, with a further 9% of married and 7% of separated participants being British or new Zealanders.
There was a differing distribution of religious affiliation between the married and separated participants. While 31% of married participants identified themselves as Catholic, only 17% of separated participants identified themselves as Catholic. Similar percentages of married and separated participants identified the religion as Hindu, Protestant, Buddhist/Taoist, and Baptist. Fewer separated participants than married participants identified as Presbyterian or Christian, while more identified as Uniting and Atheist. In terms of religious affiliation, the separated participants were a slightly more heterogeneous group, with 18 different religious affiliations represented, compared to 13 amongst the married participants. Several religions were represented amongst the separated participants (8% Anglican, 2% Pentecostal, 2% Jehova’s Witness, 2% Assembly of God, 1% Agnostic, 1% Muslim, 1% Salvation Army, 1% Latter Day Saints) that were not Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 72
represented at all amongst the married participants. Conversely, amongst the married participants, some religions were represented (3% Spiritualists, 1% Seventh Day Adventists, 1% Russian Orthodox) that no separated participants identified with.
Volunteers were excluded from participating, if they were suffering from a diagnosed psychiatric disorder. Although none of the participants reported being diagnosed by a health professional with a depressive illness, almost half of the separated participants attained scores on the Depression subscale of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS) that indicated that they might have been suffering from depression.
Participants were also excluded if they were current, regular users of sedative or hypnotic medication. None of the married participants were taking antidepressant medication, but fourteen of the separated participants were taking low to average doses of antidepressant medication. Eleven of these were taking Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), two were taking Tricyclics (TCAs), and one was taking a reversible inhibitor of Monoamine Oxidase Type A (RIMA). Despite some evidence in the literature that some antidepressant medications suppress REM sleep, it was nevertheless decided to include the data for these participants in this study, for the following reasons: First, while many antidepressants are known to suppress REM sleep (for reviews, see van Bemmel, 1997, and Sandor & Shapiro, 1994), not all have been studied over a sufficiently long period to be certain of their continued effect (Ross, Ball, Gresch, & Morrison, 1990; van Bemmel, 1997) and there is some evidence that REM suppression effects weaken after 3 to 5 weeks (Berger et al., 1986; Riemann & Berger, 1990; Riemann, Velthaus, Laubenthal, Müller, & Berger, 1990) and subside after 12 weeks (Nutt, 1995). Further, some antidepressants do not produce REM suppression (Arriaga, Paiva, Cavaglia, & Pinheira, 1995; Sonntag, et al., 1996), and a few (including two, Nefazodone and Moclobemide, being taken by this study’s participants) even enhance REM sleep (Riemann, Berger, & Voderholzer, 2001; Sharpley & Cowen, 1995). In addition, on each of the dream and sleep variables, neither the scores of the participants taking SSRIs, nor those Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 73
of the participants taking TCAs or RIMAs were significantly different from those of the non-medicated participants, and the scores indicated a trend to more, rather than less, dreaming.
Study Participation Effects
On the Study Participation Effects scale, married participants scored significantly lower than separated participants, t (117) = -3.14, p = .002, with married people tending to disagree that the study had been of benefit, and separated people tending to agree.
Attrition
Over the 12-month course of the research project, there was some natural attrition, as participants changed address, reconciled with their ex-spouse, or did not continue for other reasons. One hundred and forty-nine participants (71 separated and 78 married) completed the second questionnaires at three months and 116 people (53 separated and 63 married) completed the final follow-up questionnaire at 12 months (see Table 3.2).
Table 3.2
Participation at Initial Testing, After Three Months, and After 12 Months
Participation Married (N) Separated (N) Time 1 (Initial Testing) 93 97 Time 2 (After 3 Months) 78 71 Time 3 (After 12 Months) 66* 53*
* Eight married and five separated participants did not complete the Time 2 testing.
To assess whether the participants who did not continue their engagement with the study were different in any substantial way from those who remained in the study for the entire 12 months, t-tests were conducted. Married individuals who participated in the study across 12 months (including 8 who did not Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 74
participate at the three month point) did not differ significantly from married individuals who participated only initially or initially and at three months, on any of the dream, personality, or adjustment variables measured at initial testing. Similarly, separated individuals who participated through the full 12 months did not differ significantly from the separated individuals who did not continue beyond initial or three month testing.
Of course, people who are married are not always untroubled by issues relating to their relationship and it was important to ensure that the comparison group was not a group that tended to be preoccupied with marital problems. To ensure that this was the case, satisfaction with the marriage and the relationship was measured amongst the married participants who continued on to the first follow-up questionnaire. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 indicating the marriage was “very unhappy” and 10 representing “very happy” the participants rated their marriages on average at 8.36, with a range from 3 to 10. Similarly, on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 indicating the relationship with their partner was “very hostile” and 10 representing “very harmonious”, participants rated their relationships on average at 8.08, with a range from 2 to 10.
Amongst the separated participants, there was a large range with regard to length of separation (1 week to 114 months), and although all participants asserted that the separation remained a current source of significant distress for them, it was important to check that outliers on length of separation were not scoring differently on measures of adjustment. Adjustment was measured using a self- reported indicator of adjustment, as well as scales indicating depression, life satisfaction, and impact of the event of separation. A correlational analysis revealed that there were no significant relationships between length of separation and number of dreams of ex-partner / separation, ego strength, boundary thickness, coping style, initial adjustment, or change in adjustment over three months, or over twelve months.
There are numerous factors that may have an impact on the degree of distress experienced by a person who has recently separated from a partner. One Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 75
important factor is that of control over the separation decision, the degree of which is known to have a positive influence on divorce adjustment (Gray & Silver, 1990; Kitson, 1982; Wallerstein, 1986). While initiators have been found to be less attached to their ex-spouses after divorce (Kitson, 1982) and have better quality of life following divorce (Wallerstein, 1986), they also often experience strong feelings of guilt (Weiss, 1979). In addition, the timing of distress and recovery may be different for initiators and non-initiators (Kitson, 1992). In the current study, the possibility that initiation of the separation may have influenced initial levels of adjustment was explored. Of the 71 separated participants who completed the first follow-up questionnaire, 48 indicated that the separation had been initiated mutually or by themselves; 20 indicated that their partner had initiated the separation; and three did not indicate either way. Independent-groups t-test analyses showed that although there was a trend for participants whose partners had initiated their separations to display less adjustment to the separation event than participants who had initiated the separation themselves or mutually with their partners, only satisfaction with life at initial follow-up was significantly different between the two groups, t (66) = 3.17, p = .002.
Materials
Dreams and Sleep
Dream Content. The variable of interest, with regard to dream content, was the extent to which participants had been dreaming about their ex-partner and/or separation (in the case of the separated participants) or their partner and/or marriage (in the case of the married participants). Participants were asked to estimate the number of dreams they had experienced about the separation/marriage/ex-partner/partner in the previous week. All of the participants, both married and separated, completed this scale.
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 76
Dream Frequency. Dream frequency was assessed by asking participants to report how many dreams they ordinarily recall having per week. In the case of the separated participants, they were asked to report how many dreams they had recalled having on average per week since the separation. An estimate of current dream frequency was obtained from both groups of participants. Retrospective questionnaire surveys of dream frequency have been found to provide reliable estimates of dreaming frequency that are consistent with those gained from laboratory sleep interruption techniques (Cohen & MacNeilage, 1973; Weisz & Foulkes, 1970).
Nightmare Frequency and Distress. Nightmare frequency was assessed using a question that directly asked participants to estimate the number of nightmares that they had in the past year. The differences between nightmares and sleep terrors were first explained, to ensure that participants did not confuse them. A nightmare was described as “a very distressing dream, which the individual remembers clearly.” A sleep terror was described as involving “awakening in a state of panic, without any recall of a dream”, and occurring “most often in the first hour or two of the night.” This approach was recommended by Belicki, Chambers and Ogilvie (1997). Both married and separated participants completed this scale, at the 12-month follow-up point, in order to obtain true estimates of nightmare frequency and distress over the duration of the study period. Although such retrospective estimates tend to underestimate nightmare frequency, they do correlate highly with diary estimates (Wood & Bootzin, 1990). Belicki, Chambers, and Ogilvie (1997) found that the average number of nightmares that psychology students reported having per year was around eleven. Belicki and Cuddy (1991) found that about 9.6% of university students reported experiencing one or more nightmares per month, and 1.9% reported one or more per week.
Nightmare distress was measured using an adaptation of the Nightmare Distress Questionnaire (NDQ) (Belicki, 1992a) (see Appendix), omitting one therapy item. The NDQ items are presented as questions such as: “Do you ever have the feeling that something which happened in your nightmare has really occurred?” and “Are you ever afraid to fall asleep for fear of having a Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 77
nightmare?” Responses are scored on a 5-point scale according to the answer to the question (i.e., Never; Rarely; Sometimes; Often; Always; or Not at all; Slightly; Somewhat; Definitely; A great deal). The NDQ assesses the amount of waking distress caused by nightmares, and is thought to be a better indicator of psychological wellbeing and waking emotional adjustment in relation to nightmares than nightmare frequency (Belicki, 1992b; Wood & Bootzin, 1990). Internal consistency of the NDQ has been reported to be high, with Cronbach’s alpha ranging from .83 to .88 (Belicki, 1992a; Belicki, Chambers, & Ogilvie, 1997). While nightmare distress and nightmare frequency are significantly correlated, the correlations are sufficiently small (r = .29 to r = .45, with a mean r = .35) to warrant them being treated as separate constructs (Belicki & Cuddy, 1991; 1992a,b). In the current study, the correlation between nightmare frequency and nightmare distress was also found to be small and non-significant, r (117) = .17, p = .060.
Sleep Length. Participants were asked how many hours they normally sleep per night, on average; and separated participants were also asked how many hours they had been sleeping, on average, since the separation. In the analyses, current hours of sleep were taken as normal average hours of sleep for married participants and average hours of sleep since the separation for separated participants.
Personality Variables
Ego Strength. Ego strength was measured using the MMPI-2 Ego Strength subscale (Barron, 1953)(see Appendix for item numbers). All of the participants, both married and separated, completed this scale. The MMPI-2 (Hathaway & McKinley, 1989) is the most widely used personality test in the world (Piotrowski & Lubin, 1990), and this subscale consists of 47 items, with forced-choice True or False responses. Example items include: “I find it hard to keep my mind on a task or job” and “I seldom worry about my health.” Ego strength is a factor which may help to account for variation in rates of dream recall and has been used in previous studies (e.g., Kaminer & Lavie, 1991). The MMPI-2 Ego strength Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 78
subscale is a good measure of adaptability, resiliency, personal resourcefulness, and effective functioning, and is also a good general indicator of psychological health and adjustment (Butcher et al., 2001). People with high scores on this subscale are more stable, reliable, energetic, spontaneous, and self-confident (Butcher et al., 2001). They also tend to have good contact with reality, good physical functioning, and higher feelings of personal adequacy (Butcher et al., 2001). On the other hand, people with low scores tend to demonstrate poorer psychological adjustment, inhibition, physical ailments, difficulty dealing with environmental pressures, and limited resources for coping with their life situations (Butcher et al., 2001).
Boundary Thickness. Boundary thickness was measured using the Boundary Questionnaire (Short Form) (BQ18) (Hartmann, 1998a) (see Appendix). All of the participants, both married and separated, completed this scale. An 18 item self-report scale that measures the “thickness” of intra-psychic boundaries, the BQ18 was developed by Hartmann, specifically in relation to dream research. The BQ18 is thought to give a measure of defensive style, and the hypothesis is that the thinner or more porous the boundary, the more likely the person is to be affected by stimuli coming from both outside and within, including dreams. Example items on the BQ18 include: “I like stories that have a definite beginning, middle, and end” and “When something happens to a friend of mine or to a lover, it is almost as if it happened to me.” Responses are on a 5-point scale, ranging from “not at all true of me” (indicated with a response of “0”) to “very true of me” (indicated with a response of “4”).
People with thin boundaries tend to be more open, sensitive, easily hurt, self-disclosing, fantasy-prone, and vulnerable than people with thick boundaries. Previous research has found a correlation between thin boundaries and higher dream recall (Cowen & Levin, 1995; Hartmann, 1989, 1991; Hartmann, Elkin, & Garg, 1991; Schredl, Kleinfechner, & Gsell, 1996; Schredl, Schäfer, Hofmann, & Jacob, 1999). Hartmann (1989, 1991) found that people who have frequent nightmares have unusually thin ego boundaries. This finding was replicated by Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 79
several subsequent studies (Galvin & Arch, 1990; Hartmann, 1996a; Levin, Galin, & Zywiak, 1991; Pietrowsky & Köthe, 2003; Schredl et al., 1996; 1999), although negative results have also been reported (Funkhouser, Würmle, Cornu, & Bahro, 2001; Spadafora & Hunt, 1990; Strauch & Meier, 1996).
Coping Style. Coping style was assessed using the Brief Cope (Carver, 1997) (see Appendix), which assesses several responses known to be relevant to adaptive and avoidant coping. Only the separated participants completed this scale, as the scale was designed with questions that were anchored to the ways in which an individual had been coping with a particular stressor (in this case, the marital separation). A 28 item, self-report measure of coping style, the Brief COPE is a brief form of the COPE Inventory (Carver, Scheier, & Weintraub, 1989). The Brief COPE consists of 14 subscales, each having two items. Examples of items from the Brief COPE include: “I’ve been getting emotional support from others”; and “I’ve been blaming myself for things that happened.” Response choices are on a 4-point scale, ranging from one (I haven’t been doing this at all) to four (I’ve been doing this a lot).
The subscales measure both potentially dysfunctional and adaptive responses to stressors, including: self-blame; denial; behavioural disengagement; acceptance; planning; humour; positive reframing; and substance abuse. Data demonstrating the psychometric properties of the Brief COPE were derived from a larger study of community residents who were recovering from the effects of a natural disaster, Hurricane Andrew (David et al., 1996; Ironside et al., 1997). Although each of the subscales consists of only two items, their reliabilities have been shown to be moderately acceptable, with Cronbach’s alphas ranging from .50 to .90, and most above .60 (Carver, 1997). Data from a factor analysis of the larger COPE Inventory (Lyne & Roger, 2000) was used to determine which subscales could be used in this study to assess Adaptive and Avoidant Coping. The subscales used to measure Adaptive Coping were: Active coping; Positive reframing; Planning; and Acceptance. The subscales that were used to measure Avoidant Coping were: Denial; Behavioural disengagement; Substance Use; and Self-Blame. Internal consistency was found to be acceptable for both scales Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 80
(Adaptive Cronbach’s α = .68; Avoidant Cronbach’s α = .70). Estimates of reliability were not markedly improved by deleting any of the subscales on either combined scale, so all were retained.
Adjustment
Adjustment was measured using four scales, which broadly assessed general wellbeing and adjustment to the separation event. Two of the scales measured depression and satisfaction with life. These scales were not anchored to any specific event and were able to be measured both in the separated participants and in the married comparison group. Adjustment to the separation event itself was measured through a self-rated Likert scale and a scale measuring the impact of the event. These two scales were specifically anchored to the event of the marital separation, and therefore were only able to be measured in the separated participants.
Life Satisfaction. Life satisfaction was considered to be an important measure of general adjustment and was assessed using the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) (Diener, Emmons, Larson, & Griffin, 1985) (see Appendix). A five item self-report measure of general life satisfaction, the SWLS includes items such as: “In most ways my life is close to ideal” and “I am satisfied with my life”. The scale asks respondents to rate their level of agreement on a seven-point scale, with 1 equating to “strongly disagree” and 7 indicating a response of “strongly agree”, thus yielding a maximum score of 35. The SWLS has been demonstrated to have good reliability and internal consistency (Diener, Emmons, Larson, & Griffin, 1985). Inter-item consistency was found to be consistently positive and correlations ranged from .44 to .81. Reliability was demonstrated with a two month test-retest correlation coefficient of .82 and a coefficient alpha of .87 (Diener, et al., 1985). Test-retest reliability for the SWLS was demonstrated in the current study, with a correlation coefficient after three months of .76, and .66 after 12 months. There is also good evidence of convergent validity, and the scale correlates positively with other subjective wellbeing scales, self-esteem, and Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 81
interviewer ratings of life satisfaction (Diener at al., 1985; Pavot & Diener, 1993; Pavot, Diener, Colvin, & Sandvik, 1991).
Depression. To comprehensively assess wellbeing, depression was also measured, using the Depression subscale of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales (DASS) (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1996) (see Appendix). Previous studies have focussed on depression in the assessment of wellbeing and adjustment (e.g., Cartwright, 1984, 1986, 1991,1996; Punamaki, 1998; Siegel, 1996; Trenholme, Cartwright, & Greenberg, 1984). The DASS Depression subscale consists of 14 items, for which the response choices are rated on a 4-point scale, from 0 (Did not apply to me at all) to 3 (Applied to me very much, or most of the time). Respondents are asked to indicate how much various statements applied to them over the previous week. These statements include: “I felt down-hearted and blue” and “I couldn’t seem to experience any positive feeling at all”. The DASS is a widely used, well-normed, and reliable set of scales, and the Depression subscale is appropriate for measuring both current state and change in state over time on the depression dimension (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1996). The Depression subscale assesses dysphoria, hopelessness, devaluation of life, self-deprecation, lack of interest/involvement, anhedonia, and inertia (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1996). The subscale has been shown to have high internal consistency and to yield meaningful discriminations in a variety of settings. A key strength of the subscale is its ability to assess depression in a brief and psychometrically sound manner (Brown, Chorpita, Korotitsch, & Barlow, 1997). Although the use of the DASS Depression subscale meant that direct comparisons with Cartwright’s (1991) findings would be limited, the DASS was considered more suitable than the Beck depression inventory (BDI) for the non-clinical populations involved in this study.
Self-Rated Adjustment. Self-rated adjustment was assessed through the use of a scale rating adjustment from one to ten. Only separated participants completed this scale, as it was anchored to the separation event. This 10 point scale measured the individual’s own estimate of their adjustment to the separation, with 1 representing “not over it at all” and 10 representing “fully recovered”. This adjustment measure was the same as that used by Cartwright (1991), Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 82
although in that study, an interviewer made the rating, whereas in the current study, the rating was self-scored. Test-retest reliability for this scale was demonstrated in the current study, with a correlation coefficient after three months of .58 and .75 after 12 months.
Impact of (Separation) Event. Impact of the separation was measured using the Impact of Event Scale – Revised (IES-R) (Horowitz, Wilner, & Alvarez, 1979; Weiss & Marmar, 1997) (see Appendix). Only separated participants completed this scale, as it was anchored to a specific event, the separation. The IES-R is one of the most widely used self-report measures to assess the frequency of intrusive and avoidant phenomena associated with the experience of a particular event. A self-report, 22 item measure, it assesses common subjective distress in response to a stressful life event, such as intrusive thinking, avoidance, and hyperarousal. Examples of items from the IES-R include: “Any reminder brought back feelings about it” and “I was aware that I still had a lot of feelings about it, but I didn’t deal with them.” Response choices are on a 4-point scale (0, 1, 3, 5) ranging from “Not at all” (0) to “Often” (5).
The IES-R has been found to be useful in following the trajectories of people responding to specific traumatic life events over long periods of time, since it can easily be used repetitively and anchored to the same psychological trauma (Horowitz, Wilner, & Alvarez, 1979). The IES-R has a large literature and has been employed in many studies of natural disasters, criminal victimisation, accidents, cancer, and emergency service work. In relation to dream research, it has been used previously by Lavie and Kaminer (1996), Kaminer and Lavie (1991) and Siegel (1996).
The IES-R possesses good psychometric properties (Joseph, 2000; Weiss & Marmar, 1997). Internal consistency has been demonstrated to be good for the total IES (Cronbach’s a = .86) (Horowitz, Wilner, & Alvarez, 1979), and for the three subscales (Intrusion; Avoidance; and Hyperarousal) (Cronbach’s a = .84 to .91) (Weiss & Marmar, 1997). Internal consistency was also demonstrated in this study for the total IES (Cronbach’s a = .90). Test-retest reliability has also been Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 83
demonstrated with test-retest correlation coefficients of .51 to .59 after 1.5 years, and .89 to .94 after six months (Weiss & Marmar, 1997). Test-retest reliability was also demonstrated in the current study, with a test-retest correlation coefficient of .73 after three months, and .75 after 12 months. There is good evidence for convergent validity of the IES-R as a measure of subjective distress, with significant correlations between it and various measures of psychological distress (e.g., BDI, STAI, GHQ, and SCL-90) (e.g., Bryant & Harvey, 1996; Creamer, Burgess, & Pattison, 1992; Foa, Riggs, Dancu, & Rothbaum, 1993; Joseph et al., 1996), as well as increased physiological responsivity (e.g., Orr, Pitman, Lasko, & Herz, 1993). The IES-R is considered a good index of ongoing cognitive and behavioural adjustment (Joseph, 2000). With high internal consistency for the total IES, and this reliability not being improved by deleting any subscale, it was decided to combine the three subscales into one scale measuring overall impact of event.
Study Participation Effects
The effects of study participation were measured through the use of a scale that was developed specifically for this study (see Appendix). Measuring these effects allowed for a comparison between married and separated participants in relation to any beneficial or detrimental effects of being involved in the study. The Study Participation Effects scale comprised nine items, inviting participants to respond on a Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). The scale included such items as “Participating in the study helped me to gain insight into my inner feelings and thoughts” and “I found participating in the study was somehow beneficial or therapeutic in itself”.
Design
The study was longitudinal, with measurements taken initially, then 3 months later, and again at 12 months. Initially, three sets of variables were measured: dream variables, personality variables, and adjustment variables. The purpose of this first assessment was to obtain an initial measure of the participants’ mental state in the earliest period after, or during, the stressful life Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 84
experience, with which to compare their overall mental state and level of adjustment at the two follow-up points over 12 ensuing months (i.e., at three and 12 months).
Procedure
Participants were recruited through newspaper advertisements, flyers on noticeboards in suburban libraries, university campuses, and on university staff group emails. Potential participants were invited to take part in a study that would “explore the dreams of people who have experienced a marital separation, as well as those who have not experienced such an event”. While participants in each group were unaware of the planned inter-group comparisons that would be made with the data, they were aware that both married and separated people were being recruited for the study. Potential participants were advised that they did not need to be prolific dreamers to participate. As a small incentive, potential participants were informed that in return for their participation, their names would be entered in a draw for a prize of a $200 shopping voucher at a major department store.
Data for this study were gathered entirely through the distribution of questionnaires by mail to people in the community who volunteered in response to public notices, media announcements and advertisements. While such a recruitment strategy may have meant that there was a selection bias towards people with an interest in dreams, this bias ought to have been similar across both the married and separated groups of participants.
Initial contact was made with the researcher by telephone or email. The researcher then screened the participants via a brief telephone interview to ensure their suitability for the study. Individuals who had been long-separated, and no longer considered the separation to be a current emotional issue in their lives, were not invited to participate. Individuals, who were aware that they had been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder or who were taking regular sedative or hypnotic medication, or high doses of antidepressants, were unable to participate. Those who were considered eligible to participate were mailed a package which Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 85
included a consent form, information about the study, a questionnaire, and a stamped, addressed envelope for the return of the appropriate documents. Those who had agreed to also participate in Study 2 (see Chapter 4) were also mailed a Dream Diary. Participants were asked to return the questionnaires and consent forms within two weeks, although some did take up to 3 ½ weeks.
Results
Data Cleaning and Screening
Data were examined to check for patterns of missing data, and this was not found to be systematic for any of the variables, with the exception that three married participants failed to properly complete the Satisfaction With life Scale at the 12-month follow-up point. One participant accidentally left one larger section of the baseline questionnaire blank, and this was rectified by contacting the participant, and asking her to complete the missing section. Missing data occurred in a random pattern across all questionnaires, with occasional items having been missed or left incomplete by participants. Where this occurred for one item of a scale, a mean substitution technique was utilised, whereby a replacement value was imputed from that participant’s mean score on available items in that particular scale.
Data were examined for normality and all variables were found to be normally distributed with the exception of months of separation and nightmare frequency. Months of separation was positively skewed (skewness value of 2.57 and kurtosis value of 9.20). This was to be expected as participants were recruited who were recently separated, although some also participated who had been separated longer, but for whom the separation remained a current issue. Nightmare frequency was positively skewed (skewness z = 4.69 and kurtosis z = 22.59). This is not surprising, since most of the population do not have frequent, or even regular, nightmares. All except for five participants estimated experiencing between 0 and 150 nightmares per year. Five participants estimated Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 86
experiencing from 200 to 365 nightmares per year. These five outlier scores on nightmare frequency were removed from the analysis.
Scores on each scale were examined for univariate outliers, using visual inspections of distribution histograms and stem-and-leaf plots. On months of separation, there were two outliers who had been separated for more than 60 months. On Ego Strength, there were two outliers who scored 10 or below. These scores were considered within the normal range of scores for this scale, and their inclusion did not significantly alter the results.
Table 3.3
Differences Between Married and Separated Participants on Dream, Sleep, and Personality Variables
N M SD t df Sig. (2- tailed) Age Married 93 38.81 9.02 1.30 188 .197 Separated 97 37.01 10.03 Years of Marriage Married 93 11.16 8.80 1.85 188 .066 Separated 97 8.95 7.43 Current Hours of Sleep Married 93 7.50 .81 4.06 188 .000*** Separated 97 6.73 1.63 Number of Dreams of Married 93 1.88 1.26 - 188 .010 Spouse/Marriage/Ex- Separated 97 2.35 1.23 2.59 Spouse/Separation Current Number of Married 93 3.63 1.60 -.02 188 .984 Dreams per Week Separated 97 3.64 1.72 Nightmare Frequency Married 64 7.59 19.84 .003 110 .997 Separated 48 7.58 9.45 Nightmare Distress Married 66 9.30 7.07 - 117 .036 Separated 53 12.32 8.42 2.12 Ego Strength Married 93 33.09 5.24 3.81 188 .000*** Separated 97 29.53 7.41 Boundary Thickness Married 93 31.57 9.07 -.80 188 .423 Separated 97 32.64 9.28 * p<.01; ** p<.005; *** p<.001
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 87
Sleep Length
On average, separated participants reported that, prior to their separation, they slept for an average of 7.59 hours (SD = 1.24 hours) per night. This was not significantly different from the 7.50 hour average (SD = .81 hours) reported by married participants. However, the current sleep length of the married participants was significantly different from the 6.73 current hours (SD = 1.63 hours) of sleep that separated participants reported that they had been experiencing, t (188) = 4.06, p =.000.
Dream Content
Married participants reported having an average of 3.63 dreams (SD = 1.53 dreams) per week, which was not significantly different from the average 3.64 (SD = 1.72 dreams) dreams per week that separated participants reported that they were currently having, t (188) = -.02, p = .984. However, married participants reported that, on average, they dreamed about their spouse or marriage 1.88 times in the week prior to their participation in the study, which was less (bordering on significantly less) than the average 2.35 dreams that separated participants reported about their ex-partner or separation, t (188) = - 2.59, p = .010. This was a general trend across most of the participants, and not due to outliers.
Differences Between Separated and Married Participants
The married participants were, at initial testing and at first and second follow-ups, significantly less depressed and significantly more satisfied with life than the separated participants (see Figures 3.1 and 3.2). Married people scored significantly higher on ego strength than separated participants, t (188) = 3.81, p = .000, but they did not differ significantly on boundary thickness.
Adjustment Over Time
Figures 3.1 to 3.4 display the average scores for married and separated participants on each of the adjustment variables at each of the three time points of Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 88
the study. Repeated measures ANOVAs were conducted to investigate differences in the adjustment of marital groups over time.
Satisfaction With Life and Depression
Analyses using two 2 x 3 repeated measures ANOVAs were performed to determine differences in satisfaction with life and depression of marital groups over time. Satisfaction with life was shown to be significantly different at the three time points, F (2, 202) = 11.87, p = .000, and for the two marital groups, F (1, 101) = 5.66, p = .019, but there was no time x group interaction. Depression was significantly different at the three time points, F (2, 208) = 4.39, p = .014, and for the two marital groups, F (1, 104) = 10.42, p = .002, and there was no time x group interaction. Pairwise comparisons revealed that improvement in satisfaction with life and depression was significant between Time 1 and Time 2, and that reduction in satisfaction with life and depression was significant between Time 2 and Time 3, but the change was not significant between Time 1 and Time 3. This means that although the baseline satisfaction with life was higher, and depression was lower, for married than separated participants, satisfaction with life and depression improved in both the separated and married participants over the initial three-month period of the study, and then worsened in both groups over the subsequent nine-month period.
Self-Rated Adjustment and Impact of Event (Separated Participants Only)
Analyses using repeated measures ANOVAs were performed to determine differences over time in self-rated adjustment and impact of the separation event of the separated participants. These analyses could only be conducted for the separated group, since these variables could not be anchored to a specific event (and were therefore not measured) in the married group. Self-rated adjustment was shown to be significantly different at the three time points, F (2, 94) = 7.24, p = .002. Impact of (separation) event was also shown to be significantly different at the three time points, F (2, 94) = 11.83, p = .000. Pairwise comparisons revealed that Self-rated adjustment increased significantly, and Impact of (Separation) Event decreased significantly over time, between Time 1 and Time 2, and Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 89
between Time 1 and Time 3, but not between Time 2 and Time 3. This means that, on these two measures, the separated participants made their largest gain in terms of adjustment in the initial three-month period, and then a smaller gain over the subsequent nine-month period.
After three months, separated participants showed a significant improvement in self-rated adjustment, impact of event, and satisfaction with life, but there was no significant improvement in their levels of depression (see Figures 3.1 to 3.4). At the 12-month point, there was a tendency for adjustment scores
35 Married 30 Separated 25 20 15 10 5 0 Mean Satisfaction With Life With Satisfaction Mean Time 1 Time 2 Time 3 Time
Figure 3.1. Satisfaction With Life at Initial Testing, Three Months, and 12 Months (Error Bars = 1 SD)
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 90
25 Married 20 Separated
15
10
Mean Depression 5
0 Time 1 Time 2 Time 3 Time
Figure 3.2. Level of Depression at Initial Testing, Three Months, and 12 Months (Error Bars = 1 SD)
10.0 Separated
7.5
5.0
2.5
0.0 Mean Self-Rated Adjustment Time 1 Time 2 Time 3 Time
Figure 3.3. Self-Rated Adjustment at Initial testing, Three Months, and 12 Months (Separated Participants) (Error Bars = 1 SD)
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 91
70 Separated 60 50 40 30 20 10 Mean Impact of Event 0 Time 1 Time 2 Time 3 Time
Figure 3.4. Impact of Event at Initial testing, Three Months, and 12 Months (Separated Participants) (Error Bars = 1 SD)
to fall back toward initial scores. This pattern was not apparent for the two adjustment variables that were anchored to the separation, with separated participants continuing to improve on these measures across the 12- month study period.
Correlations Between Personality, Sleep and Dream Variables and Adjustment Throughout all of the correlational and regression analyses for Study 1, a stringent significance level of α = .01 was maintained, due to the fact that there were multiple variables. Table 3.4 shows correlations for both marital groups separately, between personality and sleep and dream variables, while Table 3.5 shows correlations between personality and adjustment for both groups separately. Amongst both married and separated participants, ego strength was significantly and negatively correlated with boundary thickness. Married participants with high ego strength tended to dream less about their marital partners and married people with thinner boundaries tended to have more dreams generally. Otherwise, there were no significant relationships between personality and dream variables in the married group. Nor were there any significant relationships amongst the sleep, Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 92
Table 3.4
Bivariate Correlations Between Personality Variables and Sleep and Dream Variables Amongst Married (N =9 , Below Diagonal) and Separated (N =97, Above Diagonal) Group
Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1. Ego Strength - -.384*** -.242 -.009 -.298 -.519*** .361*** .180 -.559*** 2. Boundary Thickness -.294** - .113 .225 .022 .177 -.098 -.029 .339** 3. No. of Dreams of Spouse -.355*** .242 - .384*** .239 .341 .127 -.202 .257 4. Dreams per Week -.163 .324** .282* - .226 .148 .028 .050 .086 5. Nightmare Frequencya .078 -.012 .253 .146 - .640*** -.343 -.214 .245 6. Nightmare Distressa -.306 .268 .222 .040 .125 - -.416** -.199 .411** 7. Sleep Per Night (Hours) .124 -.060 -.088 .047 -.038 -.001 - .097 -.313** 8. Adaptive Coping ------.209 9. Avoidant Coping ------
aFor Nightmare Frequency: Married N = 64; Separated N = 48. For Nightmare Distress: Married N = 66; Separated N = 53. p < .01; ** p < .005; *** p < .001
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 93
Table 3.5
Bivariate Correlations Between Personality Variables and Adjustment in Married (Below Diagonal) and Separated (Above Diagonal) Participants
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 1. Ego Strength - -.384*** .180 -.559*** .440***. -.681*** .493*** -.474*** .332* -.356** .209 -.330* .218 -.491*** .413** -.517***
2. Boundary Thickness -.294** - -.029 .339** -.181 .445*** -.097 .203 -.099 .187 .040 .129 -.112 .281 -.075 .214 3. Adaptive Coping - - - -.209 .282* -.196 .137 -.181 .344** -.309* .442*** -.292 .263 -.147 .311 -.152 4. Avoidant Coping - - - - -.481*** .718*** -.515*** .608*** -.330* .359** -.338** .616*** -.303 .465*** -.516*** .672***
5. Satisfaction with Life at Time 1 .178 -.094 - - - -.539*** .630*** -.403*** .731*** -.517*** .482*** -.454*** .617*** -.539*** .521*** -.468*** 6. Depression at Time 1 -.495*** .264 - - -.438*** - -.631*** .634*** -.369** .450*** -.352** .450*** -.257 .604*** -.568*** .524*** 7. Self-Rated Adjustment at Time 1 ------.467 .588*** -.450*** .576*** -.498*** .467*** -.649*** .748*** -.588***
8. Impact of Event at Time 1 ------.320* .371** -.508*** -.726*** -.347 .482*** -.503*** -.747*** 9. Satisfaction With Life at Time 2 .131 -.050 - .748*** -.316* - - - -.695*** .605*** -.582*** .752*** -.572*** .635*** -.493*** 10. Depression at Time 2 -.259 .124 - - -.390*** .501*** - - -.450*** - -.529*** .618*** -.231 .449** -.410** .256 11. Self-Rated Adjustment at Time 2 ------.605*** .440** -.435** .639*** -.495***
12. Impact of Event at Time 2 ------.428** .370 -.537*** .768*** 13. Satisfaction With Life at Time 3 .137 -.120 - - .686*** -.443*** - - .567*** -.373* - - - -.595*** .539*** -.574*** 14. Depression at Time 3 -.356** .209 - - -.276 .618*** - - -.159 .668*** - - -.560*** - -.743*** .666***
15. Self-Rated Adjustment at Time 3 ------.659*** 16. Impact of Event at Time 3 ------
Note: Married N = 93 at Time 1; 78 at Time 2; and 66 at Time 3. Separated N = 97 at Time 1; 71 at Time 2; and 53 at Time 3. p < .01; ** p < .005; *** p < .001 Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 94
Table 3.6
Bivariate Correlations Between Sleep and Dream Variables and Adjustment in Married (Below Diagonal) and Separated (Above Diagonal) Participants
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1. Hours of Sleep per Night - .127 .028 -.343 -.416** .326** -.419*** .443*** -.292** .354 -.330* .213 -.393** .371* -.451** .509*** -.594*** 2. Number of Dreams of Spouse / Ex-Spouse -.088 - .384*** .239 .341 -.280* .276* -.280* .463*** -.298 .310* -.444*** .357** -.303 .385** -.376* .300 3. Dreams per Week -.047 .282* - .226 .148 -.053 .058 .029 .083 -.069 .043 -.063 .093 -.115 .036 -.016 .078 4. Nightmare Frequency -.038 .253 .146 - .640*** -.280 .342 -.449** .171 -.420** .410* -.419** .173 -.143 .440** -.559*** .325 5. Nightmare Distress -.001 .222 .040 .125 - -.359* .474*** -.535*** .448** -.425** .476** -.427** .373* -.308 .611*** -.639*** .514*** 6. Satisfaction with Life at Time 1 .064 -.196 -.005 -.230 -.075 - -.539*** .630*** -.403*** .731*** -.517*** .482*** -.454*** .617*** -.539*** .521*** -.468*** 7. Depression at Time 1 -.100 .299** .045 -.004 .492*** -.438*** - -.631*** .634*** -.369** .450*** -.352** .450*** -.257 .604*** -.568*** .524*** 8. Self-Rated Adjustment at Time 1 ------.467 .588*** -.450*** .576*** -.498*** .467*** -.649*** .748*** -.588*** 9. Impact of Event at Time 1 ------.320* .371** -.508*** -.726*** -.347 .482*** -.503*** -.747*** 10. Satisfaction With Life at Time 2 .083 -.156 -.029 -.356* -.066 .748*** -.316* - - - -.695*** .605*** -.582*** .752*** -.572*** .635*** -.493*** 11. Depression at Time 2 -.107 .119 .142 .185 .286 -.390*** .501*** - - -.450*** - -.529*** .618*** -.231 .449** -.410** .256 12. Self-Rated Adjustment at Time 2 ------.605*** .440** -.435** .639*** -.495*** 13. Impact of Event at Time 2 ------.428** .370 -.537*** .768*** 14. Satisfaction With Life at Time 3 .138 -.143 -.084 -.053 -.159 .686*** -.443*** - - .567*** -.373* - - - -.595*** .539*** -.574*** 15. Depression at Time 3 -.262 .012 .068 .038 .352** -.276 .618*** - - -.159 .668*** - - -.560*** - -.743*** .666*** 16. Self-Rated Adjustment at Time 3 ------.659*** 17. Impact of Event at Time 3 ------
Note: Married N = 93 at Time 1; 78 at Time 2; and 66 at Time 3. Separated N = 97 at Time 1; 71 at Time 2; and 53 at Time 3. p < .01; ** p < .005; *** p < .001
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 95
dream and nightmare variables in the married group. Separated participants with high ego strength tended to sleep significantly longer, experience less nightmare distress and were less inclined to utilise avoidant coping strategies. Those with thicker boundaries were also less inclined to utilise avoidant coping strategies. Those who experienced more dreams about their ex-spouse and separation, tended to report more dreams generally, but not more nightmares. In addition, avoidant copers tended to sleep significantly fewer hours per night, and experience significantly more nightmare distress.
In the married group, ego strength was significantly and negatively correlated with depression, initially and at 12-month follow-up (see Table 3.5). In separated participants, ego strength was significantly correlated with positive adjustment across almost all adjustment measures (see Table 3.5). In the separated group, thin boundaries were significantly correlated with initial depression, but no other adjustment variables. Adaptive coping was significantly and positively correlated with satisfaction with life initially and at first follow-up, and with self-rated adjustment at first follow-up. Avoidant coping was significantly and negatively with positive adjustment, across all measures and time points, excepting only one, satisfaction with life at 12-month follow- up.
Amongst the married participants, neither sleep length nor dream frequency were significantly correlated with adjustment. The more dreams of their spouse that married people had, the more likely that they were depressed at initial testing. In the separated group, greater sleep length, fewer dreams of ex-spouse / separation, fewer nightmares, and less nightmare distress tended to be significantly related to adjustment on most measures, across most time points (see Table 3.6). However, dream frequency was not correlated with adjustment in the separated participants.
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 96
Prediction of Initial Adjustment
One of the aims of Study 1 was to investigate both personality variables and dream content in terms of their ability to predict initial adjustment. The relative predictive strength of the two sets of predictors of initial adjustment in the separated participants was investigated using multiple hierarchical regression analyses. These were firstly conducted to determine whether initial adjustment could be predicted from dream content, and then to determine whether the personality variables contributed to the prediction of adjustment beyond the variance accounted for by the estimated number of dreams about the ex-partner. The dream variable that was entered first into the equation was number of dreams of ex-partner/separation, while the personality variables that were entered second into the analyses were ego strength and avoidant coping. As Table 3.7 shows, the first hierarchical regression results suggested that fewer dreams of ex-spouse / separation significantly predicted initial adjustment across all four adjustment measures. High ego strength and, more particularly, less use of avoidant coping, added significantly to the prediction of initial scores on all adjustment measures.
The Beta Coefficient indices in Table 3.7 indicate the relative strength of the individual predictors at initial testing, for the separated participants. Examination of the beta weights for each of the independent variables revealed that the most important predictors of initial adjustment were ego strength and use of avoidant coping. Ego strength accounted for 11% unique variance in depression and 5% in self-rated adjustment. Avoidant coping accounted for 7% unique variance in satisfaction with life, 16% in depression, 7% in self-rated adjustment, and 13% in impact of (separation) event. The direction of these relationships was such that higher ego strength and less use of avoidant coping were related to better initial adjustment. The number of dreams of the ex-spouse or separation emerged as a significant predictor variable in the prediction of the impact of separation event at initial testing (contributing 9% unique variance). More dreaming about the ex-spouse or separation predicted a greater impact of the separation. Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 97
Table 3.7
Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analyses Predicting Initial Adjustment from Dreams of Ex-Spouse / Separation and Personality Variables in Separated Participants.
Satisfaction with Life Depression Self-Rated Adjustment Impact of Event ______Final Increase F Final Increase F Final Increase F Final Increase F ß in R2 ß in R2 ß in R2 ß in R2
Step 1:
Dreams of Ex- Spouse /Separation -.144 .078 8.09* .056 .076 7.81* -.128 .078 8.05* -.313*** .214 25.94***
Step 2:
Ego Strength .228 .215 14.131*** -.399*** .557 70.57*** .279* .264 18.61*** .151 .272 24.63*** Avoidant Coping -.317** .481*** -.327** -.444***
Total R2 (3, 93) .293 12.86*** .633 53.47*** .342 16.09*** .486 29.37***
* p < .01 ** p < .005 *** p < .001
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 98
Table 3.8
Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analyses Predicting Adjustment at Three-Month Follow-Up, from Initial Adjustment, Personality Variables, and Dreams of Ex-Spouse / Separation, in Separated Participants.
Satisfaction with Life Depression Self-Rated Adjustment Impact of Event ______Final Increase F Final Increase F Final Increase F Final Increase F ß in R2 ß in R2 ß in R2 ß in R2
Step 1:
Initial Adjustment a .717*** .534 78.98*** .317 .203 17.56*** .509*** .332 34.34*** .534*** .527 76.93***
.Step 2:
Ego Strength .035 .002 .17 -.097 .010 .44 -.133 .010 .49 .047 .025 1.86 Avoidant Coping .062 .035 -.077 .254
Step 3:
Dreams of Ex- Spouse /Separation -.107 .011 1.53 .210 .042 3.68 -.308** .086 9.92** .080 .005 .74
Total R2 (4, 66) .547 19.89*** .255 5.64** .428 12.34*** .557 20.75***
Note: Initial Adjustment refers to the particular adjustment measure on initial testing, e.g., satisfaction with life that is relevant for that analysis. * p < .01 ** p < .005 *** p < .001
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 99
Table 3.9
Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analyses Predicting Adjustment at Twelve-Month Follow-Up, from Initial Adjustment, Personality Variables, and Dreams of Ex-Spouse / Separation, Separated Participants.
Satisfaction with Life Depression Self-Rated Adjustment Impact of Event ______Final Increase F Final Increase F Final Increase F Final Increase F ß in R2 ß in R2 ß in R2 ß in R2
Step 1:
Initial Adjustment a .646*** .381 31.41*** .462 .364 29.23*** .644*** .560 64.79*** .519*** .559 64.53***
Step 2:
Ego Strength -.171 .016 .65 -.089 .009 .36 -.072 .021 1.22 -.154 .055 3.49 Avoidant Coping -.045 .025 -.176
Step 3:
Dreams of Ex- Spouse /Separation -.105 .010 .77 .236 .051 4.28 -.168 .025 3.06 .004 .000 .00
Total R2 (4, 48) .407 8.23*** .425 8.86*** .606 18.42*** .614 19.06***
Initial Adjustment refers to the particular adjustment measure on initial testing, e.g., satisfaction with life, that is relevant for that analysis. * p < .01 ** p < .005 *** p < .001 Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 100
Prediction of Adjustment Over Time
The main aim of Study 1 was to test the theory that dreaming functions to help individuals to make an emotional adjustment and ascertain whether or not more dreaming about the current stressor, early in the recovery period, was predictive of greater adjustment several months afterwards. To address this aim, the second set of multiple hierarchical regression analyses was conducted to investigate the predictive power of initial adjustment, dream content, and personality in relation to adjustment at follow-up. This set of hierarchical regressions was conducted in three steps, with initial adjustment entered first, followed by personality variables, followed by dream content. The aim of entering the factors into the equation in this order was to ensure that it was possible to explore the relative contribution of dream content to the prediction after personality and initial adjustment were taken into account.
The results of these analyses (see Table 3.8) showed that initial adjustment significantly predicted adjustment over the initial three- month follow-up period, across all of the adjustment measures. The personality measures did not add significantly to the prediction of any of the three-month follow-up adjustment measures. More dreams of ex-spouse / separation added significantly to the prediction of poorer self-rated adjustment over this three month time period, but not to the prediction of other adjustment measures. The results were similar in relation to the prediction of adjustment over 12 months (see Table 3.9). Initial adjustment significantly predicted adjustment over 12 months, across all adjustment measures, and neither the personality variables, nor dreams of ex- spouse / separation added significantly to the prediction.
The Beta Coefficient indices in Tables 3.8 and 3.9 indicate the relative strength of the predictor variables, in predicting adjustment over time in the separated participants. The beta weights for each of the independent variables revealed that the most important predictor of adjustment was initial adjustment, accounting for 36% unique variance in satisfaction with life at three months and Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 101
26% at 12 months; 17% unique variance in self-rated adjustment at three months and 25% at 12 months; 12% unique variance in impact of separation event at three months and 11% at 12 months. Dreams of ex-spouse accounted for 9% unique variance in self-rated adjustment only, at three months. More dreaming about the ex-spouse or separation predicted lower self-rated adjustment. Neither of the personality variables emerged as strong predictors of adjustment over time.
These analyses conducted up to this point showed that the strongest predictors of initial adjustment were the personality variables, and the strongest predictor of adjustment over time was initial adjustment. When dream content did add to the prediction, it was in the direction of more dreams of the stressor predicting poorer adjustment.
Prediction of Depression Over Time in Depressed and Non-Depressed Separated Participants
An important aim of the current research was to assess whether or not the findings would be consistent with Cartwright’s (1991) findings of incorporations of the ex-spouse/separation predict lower levels of depression at follow-up. To address this aim, a third set of regression analyses was conducted to investigate the prediction of depression, at the two follow-up points, in separated participants who were initially depressed. The hierarchical regressions conducted previously in Study 1 had shown that dreams of the stressor did not predict levels of depression in separated participants at either of the two follow-up points, and that only initial adjustment reliably predicted follow-up adjustment. This third set of regression analyses was conducted to test for consistency or inconsistency with the results of Cartwright (1991).
The Depression subscale of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales (DASS) was used in this study to measure depression, with the recommended (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1996) cut-off scores for depression being 10 or above, and scores of 9 or less indicating normal levels. Using these recommended cut-off scores, 43 of the separated participants were found to be depressed (Initial Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 102
Depression score M = 22.77, SD = 10.52) and 54 were found to be non-depressed (Initial Depression score M = 4.02, SD = 3.03) at initial testing. Of these individuals, 32 of the initially depressed, and 39 of the initially non-depressed participants continued to participate to the first follow-up point; and 23 depressed and 30 non-depressed participants continued until the second follow-up point. The results of these analyses showed that, in depressed participants, dreams of ex- spouse / separation did not significantly predict depression scores at either the three month, R2 = .086, F (1, 30) = 2.81, p = .104, or the 12 month, R2 = .034, F (1, 21) = .75, p = .397, follow-up points. Similarly, in non-depressed participants, dreams of ex-spouse / separation did not significantly predict depression scores at either the three month, R2 = .006, F (1, 37) = .21, p = .649, or the 12 month, R2 = .178, F (1, 28) = 6.08, p = .020, follow-up points. Regressions were also conducted to assess whether dreams of ex-spouse predicted levels across any of the other adjustment variables at follow-up for depressed or non-depressed separated participants. The results of these analyses were non-significant, with one exception. In initially depressed separated participants, more dreams of ex- spouse predicted poorer self-rated adjustment at three-month follow-up, R2 = .186, F (1, 30) = 8.07, p = .008.
The same set of regression analyses were conducted with the married participants. The same cut-off scores for depression were used, revealing that 23 married participants were depressed (Initial Depression score M = 18.48, SD = 6.46) and 70 married participants were non-depressed (Initial Depression score M = 2.87, SD = 2.63) at initial testing. Of these, 16 of the initially depressed and 61 of the initially non-depressed continued to participate to the first follow-up point; and 13 of the initially depressed and 53 of the initially non-depressed married participants continued their participation to the second follow-up point. Amongst both the depressed and non-depressed married participants, the number of dreams of ex-spouse neither significantly predicted depression nor satisfaction with life, at either of the follow-up points.
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Chapter Discussion
The findings of this study are consistent with the notion that there is a relationship between dream content, and the state of emotional wellbeing in both married and recently separated people. Separated people who were the least well adjusted were more likely to report having had dreams about their separation and ex-spouse. There was continuity between waking distress and dreams relating to current stressors, and this is not altogether surprising, nor is it inconsistent with previous research (e.g. Cartwright, Lloyd, Knight, & Trenholme, 1984; Domhoff, 1996; Hall & Nordby, 1972; Hartmann, 1996a; Mack, 1992; Punamaki, 1998; Trenholme, Cartwright, & Greenberg, 1984; Wilmer, 1996; Zadra et al., 1997- 1998).
The results of the correlational analyses and hierarchical regressions indicated that ego strength and the use of avoidant coping had a reasonably robust relationship with how well-adjusted both married and separated people were initially. The results also suggested that separated individuals who have low ego strength and tendency to use avoidant coping, are likely to suffer greater impact of the separation event and feel as if they are making less progress in terms of their own adjustment. The results also showed that those who were experiencing more dreams of their ex-spouse or separation at an earlier stage of their separation, were likely to be less adjusted at follow-up.
The regression analyses revealed that adjustment at follow-up was only reliably predicted by initial adjustment, with personality adding nothing significant to the prediction. Dream content accounted for a small amount of unique variance in the prediction of self-rated adjustment after the first three months, indicating that more dreams of the stressor did, to some degree, predict poorer adjustment at follow-up. This finding was not consistent with emotional problem-solving theories of dream function.
Regression analyses also revealed that, amongst both depressed and non- depressed separated participants, dreams of the ex-spouse or separation did not predict levels of depression at either follow-up point. This finding was Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 104
inconsistent with the findings of Cartwright (1991). Furthermore, dreams of the ex-spouse or separation did not tend to predict other measures of adjustment. The one exception to this was the finding that a greater number of dreams of the ex- spouse did predict poorer self-rated adjustment at the three-month follow-up point. This finding was also inconsistent with the findings of Cartwright (1991) and the emotional adaptation theories of dreaming. As would be expected, dream content did not predict follow-up adjustment in married participants.
Study 1 aimed to investigate the relative importance of personality factors in relation to adjustment following marital separation, and to the prediction of this adjustment at follow-up. The results indicated that people with high ego strength tended to have significantly thicker boundaries, less nightmare distress, and fewer dreams about their separation and ex-spouse, than people with low ego strength. In addition, they tended to be better adjusted at any given point in time, but they did not show significantly more or less improvement at follow-up. Although this study is not able to determine the direction of these relationships in terms of causation, the findings would be consistent with the suggestion that people with high ego strength are more resilient and less likely to become preoccupied with the stressors they face.
Boundary thickness was shown to be related to dream frequency as had been found by previous studies (Cowen & Levin, 1995; Hartmann, 1989, 1991; Hartmann, Elkin, & Garg, 1991; Schredl, Kleinfechner, & Gsell, 1996; Schredl, Schäfer, Hofmann, & Jacob, 1999) and people with thin boundaries were shown to be more likely to experience nightmare distress (although this relationship was not significant at p < .01). However, no relationship was demonstrated between thin boundaries and nightmare frequency, which was consistent with some previous findings (e.g., Funkhouser, Würmle, Cornu, & Bahro, 2001; Spadafora & Hunt, 1990; Strauch & Meier, 1999) and inconsistent with others (e.g., Galvin & Arch, 1990; Hartmann, 1989, 1991, 1996; Levin, Galin, & Zywiak, 1999; Pietrowsky & Köthe, 2003; Schredl et al., 1996; 1999). Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 105
This study found that separated participants with higher levels of initial adjustment were more likely to be better adjusted at follow-up and that the most reliable predictor of later adjustment was initial adjustment. Personality variables such as ego strength and the tendency to use avoidant coping predicted initial adjustment, which then was the strongest predictor of follow-up adjustment. Where dream content did account for significant variance in adjustment at follow- up, the relationship was in the direction of more dream inclusions of the stressor predicting poorer follow-up adjustment.
The findings of this study do not lend support to the theory that dreams may serve a function in helping us to adapt or adjust to life stresses, such as those brought on by marital separation. Dreams of people dealing with significant stressors and traumas do indeed frequently contain elements of these events, particularly emotional aspects. While dreams that relate to the current stressor often have great meaning for people in such situations, and sometimes seem to help them gain insight and comfort, the findings of this study suggest that they are more often associated with distress and poor levels of emotional wellbeing.
These findings are not inconsistent with the possibility that some other mechanism is at work during REM sleep that may facilitate adjustment change over time. Dreams of people dealing with significant stressors and traumas do indeed frequently contain elements of these events, particularly emotional aspects. Therefore, it is not inconceivable that dreams may reflect the workings of such a mechanism.
The separation and associated distress were associated with sleep loss, with the loss of almost an hour per night of sleep on average, compared to pre- separation sleep duration. Nightmare distress was also reported to be greater for separated participants than their married counterparts, and they did experience more than twice as many nightmares, although neither of these differences were statistically significant. Nightmare distress emerged as having a strong relationship with depression, both in the married and separated participants. This is consistent with findings by Belicki (1992a) and Wood and Bootzin (1990), who Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 106
previously found that nightmare distress was a better indicator of emotional and psychological wellbeing than nightmare frequency.
Although there was a reliable and continued improvement across the whole 12 months, in the separated participants, in relation to adjustment variables that were specifically anchored to the separation (impact of event and self-rated adjustment), a different and unexpected pattern occurred in relation to the two more general adjustment measures (depression and life satisfaction). Mean scores on these two variables followed a pattern of adjustment over the first three months, and then a return to closer to initial scores over the subsequent nine months. This pattern was apparent in both the married controls and the separated participants.
Three possible causes for the anomaly were considered: The first was that the repeated use of the same questions had elicited a change in responses in a direction thought by the participants to be desirable. There were two problems with this explanation: Married participants had no reason to expect that a change in responses in either direction was desired; and it was unlikely that participants remembered their earlier responses, particularly at the 12-month point. This left two other possible causes for the anomalous results. Either the participation in the study had initially had a somewhat beneficial, possibly therapeutic, effect for both married and separated participants or; factors extraneous to the study had resulted in similar fluctuations in the reported mental health of all participants.
The former possibility was investigated at the 12-month point through the use of a short questionnaire on study participation. On this scale, married participants scored significantly lower than separated participants, t (117) = -3.14, p = .002, with married people tending to disagree that the study had been of benefit, and separated people tending to agree. The possibility of extraneous factors influencing results seemed very likely as global events with enormous significance (the September 11th, 2001, bombings of New York and Washington and subsequent military action in Afghanistan) occurred in the months prior to Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 107
initial testing and also around the 12 month follow-up point (the build up to war in Iraq in late 2002)2.
Summary and Conclusions
In summary, the findings of the current research are inconsistent with the emotional problem-solving theories of dream function and more consistent with both the continuity hypothesis of dream content and the hypothesis that dreams have meaning, but no particular function. The emotional problem-solving theories would have predicted a clear and positive relationship between more dreams of the ex-spouse and better follow-up adjustment. The finding that more dreams of the ex-spouse tended to be associated with poorer initial adjustment, and that initial adjustment predicted follow-up adjustment was more consistent with the continuity theory. This theory would have predicted that separated individuals who were greatly preoccupied by their waking concerns would be more likely to dream about those concerns and be less well adjusted initially. It would also have predicted that the personal and circumstantial aspects of an individual’s waking situation might be more likely to predict follow-up adjustment than dream content. The results are also consistent with the idea put forth by Blagrove (1992a, 2000) and others (e.g., Domhoff, 1993, 2001a; Flanagan, 2000; Hobson, Stickgold, & Pace-Schott, 1998) that dreams are an epiphenomenon of REM sleep, which may itself perform a function involved in the processing of emotional material.
An important aim of Study 1 was to attempt to explore consistency with the findings of Cartwright’s (1991) study, where an association was found between dream incorporations of the ex-spouse and improved depression scores in depressed divorcees at follow-up. This study also aimed to address some of the limitations of Cartwright’s study to help determine the robustness of those findings. Study 1 attempted to this by using more robust methodology to assess
2 The influence of these factors was therefore examined further in an additional study. The findings of this additional study, however, did not shed light on why these results occurred, and the anomalous findings remain unexplained. Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 108
the prediction of adjustment at follow-up, and by following up the participants at two time points across 12 months. The study found that, for both depressed and non-depressed participants, dreams that incorporated the ex-spouse or separation did not predict depression level at follow-up after three months or one year. A possible limitation of the current study that made it difficult to make comparisons with Cartwright’s work was the current study’s use of a different measure of depression. Another possible limitation was that the current study used different methodology for the collection of dream content data to that used by Cartwright. The current study used a questionnaire method to measure dream content, where Cartwright had used REM awakenings across a single study night. To address this issue, a further study, Study 4 (see Chapter 6) was designed to compare results across three different techniques for accessing dream content, REM awakening, dream diary, and questionnaire. Using the questionnaire method, Study One was not designed to gather detailed information about the content of participants’ dreams. Therefore, a more thorough thematic analysis of dream content was conducted within a subset of Study 1’s separated participants (see Chapter 4).
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CHAPTER FOUR: STUDY TWO
RATIONALE, METHODOLOGY, AND RESULTS
Chapter Contents Rationale for Study Two Study Design Method Participants Materials Dream Diaries Inclusions of Ex-Partner/Separation Threat Themes and Threat Mastery Self-Interpretation Procedure Results Number of Diary Reports Number of Inclusions of Ex-Spouse/Separation Threat Theme Incorporation and Threat Mastery Relationship Between Diary Inclusions and Adjustment Relationship Between Threat Dreams and Adjustment Prediction of Depression The Importance of Personal Dream Meanings Thematic Commonalities Ambivalence about ex-spouse Loss of control and disaster Sexual attraction and social success Exposure, vulnerability, and confusion Anxiety about children Loss / Being lost Loss of security and support Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 110
Interpersonal conflict with ex-spouse Sexual and social rejection Survival Cleaning up or covering up a mess Repair, renovation and building Brushes with fame Wedding and wedding ring Past relationships Chapter Discussion
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 111
Rationale for Study Two
Study 2 was designed to capture more detailed qualitative information about the dreams of a subset of separated participants from the larger group who participated in Study 1. Whereas Study 1 had used the questionnaire method to acquire an estimate of dream frequency and content, Study 2 aimed to utilise the dream diary method to acquire both a confirmation (or disconfirmation) of that estimate, and more detailed information about the dream content of these participants. The diary method allowed for a detailed examination of dream content, including the identification of common dream themes in individuals undergoing marital separation. This provided an opportunity for a fuller exploration of dream content, in terms of common themes and threat themes, incorporation of the current stressor, and adjustment. It was envisaged that the findings of this study would complement those of Study 1, in that they would reveal what qualitative, thematic aspects of dream content were associated with adjustment. If, contrary to the results of Study 1, the findings were to support the functional theories of dreaming, then a significant positive correlation should be found between adjustment and the number of times that participants recorded diary dreams relating to their ex-spouse or separation. Further, incorporation of the stressor would predict adjustment over time, after initial adjustment was accounted for. In contrast, if cognitive theories were supported by the findings of Study 2, diary dream inclusions ought to be both meaningfully related to individuals’ waking situations and predictive of poor adjustment. Further, cognitive theories would suggest that dream diary inclusions would not predict adjustment over time, once initial adjustment was accounted for.
Study 2 also allowed for exploration of the dream content of separated individuals in relation to threat themes and threat mastery. This exploration was designed to investigate another of the functional theories of dreaming, Revonsuo’s (2000) evolutionary theory. Revonsuo’s (2000) evolutionary theory of dreaming Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 112
posits that dream consciousness is a mechanism for simulating threatening situations and rehearsing appropriate responses to those threats. He holds that the principal reason why dreaming has persisted in mammalian evolutionary history is that it enhances our fitness for survival, by putting us through a realistic nightly training session in threat avoidance. Revonsuo cites the fact that threatening events, including mortally dangerous ones involving animals and strangers, are represented more often in our dreams than in our waking life, as evidence that dreaming is specialised in simulating threatening events, particularly those that our ancestors may have encountered. Revonsuo’s theory would predict that recently separated people might experience an increase in threatening dream content, but that this nocturnal exposure to threats would be helpful to the dreamers. Theoretically, those experiencing more dream “rehearsal” of coping with threats should be better adjusted to their challenging life circumstances after a time interval of a year, just as if they had been consciously practising coping with threats. Thus, there ought to be a positive correlation between the number of occurrences of threatening dream content and adjustment over time. On the other hand, cognitive theories would predict a negative correlation between threat frequency and initial adjustment, and a positive correlation between threat mastery in dreams and adjustment over time.
Study Design
Study 2 was a qualitative study, involving detailed analysis of 42 dream diaries, which were kept by a sub-group of separated participants from Study 1. Diaries were analysed for particular themes, and then these results were entered into a quantitative analysis along with the data from Study 1. The data for Study 2 were collected in the four weeks after the initial questionnaire for Study 1 was completed, and dream diaries were returned two months prior to the collection of the first set of follow-up data. Table 4.1 provides an outline of the data collection that took place within Study 2.
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Table 4.1.
Design of Data Collection for Study 2
SUBSET OF SEPARATED PARTICIPANTS (EXPERIMENTAL GROUP)
DREAM DIARY DATA QUESTIONNAIRE DATA (FROM STUDY 1):
Number of Dreams Initial Adjustment Inclusions of Ex-Partner/Separation Satisfaction With Life Self-Interpretation Depression Common Themes Self-Rated Adjustment Threat Themes Impact of Event Threat Theme Percentage Follow-Up Adjustment (3 and 12 Months) Threat to Self Percentage Satisfaction With Life Mastery of Threat Percentage Depression Self-Rated Adjustment Impact of Event
Method
Participants
Of the 97 separated people who participated in Study 1, 45 agreed to participate in Study 2. Of those, 42 (7 males, 35 females) actually completed participation in the study. The average age of the participants was 39.62 years (range 26 to 65 years). Participants had been married to their ex-spouses, on average, for 9.37 years prior to their separation, and had been separated, on average, for 15.78 months. There was better retention to three and 12-month follow-up, amongst the diarists than non-diarists amongst the Study 1 participants. Of the 42 separated people who participated in Study Two, all completed the first Study 1 follow-up questionnaire after three months, and all but five completed the second Study 1 follow-up questionnaire after 12 months. There was a possibility that this difference in retention was due to adjustment differences between diarists Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 114
and non-diarists, or that the extent of diarists’ involvement in the research motivated them to continue.
A 3x4 ANOVA analysis was performed to investigate the effects of diary keeping on adjustment, at each of the three time points. As shown in Table 4.2, these analyses revealed that there were no significant differences between the baseline adjustment levels of those participants who volunteered to keep dream diaries for Study 2 and those who did not. Nor were there significant differences between the adjustment of diarists and non-diarists at three months or 12 months.
Table 4.2
Adjustment Differences Between Dream Diarists (Study 2 Subset) and Non- Diarists
Diarists Non-Diarists M SD M SD F Sig.
Initial Testing Satisfaction With Life 18.74 7.66 18.34 8.37 .06 .813 Depression 12.43 11.84 12.25 12.01 .00 .943 Self-Rated Adjustment 6.32 2.45 6.22 2.70 .04 .846 Impact of Event 45.50 27.79 43.96 30.00 .07 .797
Three-Month Follow-Up Satisfaction With Life 21.98 7.10 21.59 8.36 .04 .833 Depression 9.05 9.35 9.41 10.09 .02 .876 Self-Rated Adjustment 7.50 2.03 7.07 2.48 .65 .424 Impact of Event 32.76 24.26 29.41 23.39 .34 .564
Twelve-Month Follow-Up Satisfaction With Life 20.94 7.58 21.25 8.66 .02 .898 Depression 11.46 11.52 11.00 13.44 .02 .900 Self-Rated Adjustment 7.49 2.06 7.25 2.46 .13 .719 Impact of Event 31.62 25.81 27.56 30.09 .25 .619
Note: Time 1 N = 96 (42 Diarists and 55 Non-Diarists) Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 115
Time 2 N = 70 (42 Diarists and 29 Non-Diarists) Time 3 N = 52 (37 Diarists and 16 Non-Diarists)
Materials Dream Diaries Participants were asked to keep semi-structured dream diaries over a four- week period. During this time, they were asked to record in the diary, all of the dreams that they recalled each morning, describing them in as much detail as possible. After recording the dream, they were asked to answer a few questions (see below) in relation to the dream. Finally, they were asked to offer their own ideas about the possible meaning of the dream, including what, if anything, in their waking lives, the dream may have been related to.
Inclusions of Ex-Partner/Separation. For each dream recorded in the dream diaries, participants were asked to indicate whether or not their ex-spouse or separation had appeared in the dream (either directly or symbolically). If they answered that the ex-spouse or separation had appeared in the dream, they were asked to identify these appearances in the dream record with an asterisk.
Self-Interpretation. Following each dream report, participants were invited to write their own ideas about the possible meaning of the dream. They were asked to record “any ideas you might have about what the dream may have meant, or what, if anything, in your waking life, it may have been related to.” Participants, for the most part, were very insightful about the meanings of their dreams. It is important to give participants the opportunity to offer possible interpretations of dream content, as often, there are clear meanings that are apparent only to them. Consider, for example, the following dream, reported by one of the current study’s participants:
I’m at this house with a few people. I go outside and there is a river, which seems to be overflowing and moving fast. I notice something floating down the middle of the river like big pieces of wood then there was an ox. Then I look up further and notice some people. I hear a baby Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 116
crying and move towards the edge of the riverbank. I see a sign of a holy cross in the water and I put my hand into it and pull out a baby, the water feels thick, and I feel the current pulling me in as I grab onto a fence paling.
Her ideas about the possible meaning of the dream were as follows:
…last year I pulled my best friend’s two year old boy out of the dam. He was floating and we thought he was dead, but he was alive thank God. (This is the first dream I have had that might relate to that as I have tried to block that moment out of my mind). Participant 62
Procedure
Materials and instructions were mailed to participants along with the materials for Study One. Participants were asked to record any dreams they could recall upon awakening each morning over a period of four weeks. They were asked to describe their dreams (or snippets or images) in as much detail as they possibly could. Upon completion of the four-week period of dream recording, they were asked to return the diaries in stamped, addressed envelopes. Each participant recorded dream content by hand each day for four weeks. When the diaries were received from the participants, they were transcribed. Diaries were kept quite separate from other material relating to individual participants, and were labelled only with reference numbers.
Content was analysed by hand by two raters, who were blind to other information about the cases. Raters analysed the dreams, firstly by identifying and agreeing upon common themes in a sample of dreams from five diarists, and secondly by identifying occurrences of these themes throughout the entire sample. The latter part of the process also involved identification of new themes and refinement of the thematic categories. The raters also identified occurrences of threat across the dream sample, using the Framo Threat Scale. Dreams containing threat were identified and their percentage of the dream sample for each participant was calculated. The percentage method was used to control for varying Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 117
rates of recall amongst participants. Of the dreams containing threat, a further percentage was calculated: threat directed toward the self. Of these dreams, the percentage of mastered threat was calculated.
Results
Number of Diary Reports
Participants recorded from one to 45 dreams over the four-week period, totalling 788 dreams across all 42 people. The mean number of dreams recorded was 18.62 (SD = 12.76). Some participants reported an increase in their recall of dreams, which some suggested might have been due to the demands of the study. For example, Participant 73, who recalled 26 dreams throughout the four week collection period, wrote: “It’s strange to realise I have these complex dreams every night when I thought I was not dreaming much.” With diary reports showing an average of 4.66 (SD = 3.19) dreams per week, and questionnaire reports showing an average of 4.22 (SD = 3.16) dreams per week, this study showed that these two methods of data collection regarding dream frequency were equivalent. The number of diary dreams was significantly, moderately and positively correlated with questionnaire reported dreams, r (42) = .478, p = .001, but was not significantly correlated with any of the four personality variables, ego strength, boundary thickness, or adaptive or avoidant coping, that were measured in Study 1.
Number of Inclusions of Ex-Spouse/Separation
Participants reported between 0 and 17 inclusions of their ex-spouses or separation in their four-week dream diaries, the average being 5.64 (SD = 4.51) inclusions. In their Study 1 questionnaires, these same participants had reported an average of 2.38 (SD = 1.21) dreams about their ex-spouses or separation, over a one-week period, which was similar to the Study 1 average for separated participants of 2.35 dream inclusions. Extrapolated to four weeks, this estimate Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 118
would equal approximately 9.4 inclusions, 66% more than the mean number of inclusions recorded in the dream diaries. Of the total 788 dreams recorded in dream diaries by the Study 2 sub-group, 237 (or 30%) included references to participants’ ex-spouses. The number of diary inclusions was significantly, moderately and positively correlated with questionnaire-reported inclusions, r (42) = .405, p = .008, but there were no significant relationships between diary inclusions and any of the four personality variables from Study 1.
Threat Theme Incorporation and Threat Mastery
Diary dreams were rated using the Framo Threat Scale (Framo, Osterweil, & Boszormenyi-Nagy, 1962). According to Hall and Van de Castle (1966), the Framo Threat Scale describes a threat dream as:
…one in which at any point in the dream any one of the following appears: A dangerous action or image, or an affect indicating fear or anxiety, or a dangerous situation threatening or potentially detrimental to the survival, health, or way of life of anyone in the dream. (p. 220)
Threat could also be implied by “…a potentially dangerous situation or by some major aspect of one’s life situation being potentially altered detrimentally” (Hall & Van de Castle, 1966, p. 221). Emotional aspects could also be considered as indicative of threat, depending upon the significance of the relationships in the dream. These could include social threats such as resentment, arguing, irritation, annoyance, expressions of hostility, worry, concern, insult, rebuke, frustration, sarcasm and feelings of rejection. The Framo Threat Scale also calls for a judgement to be made regarding the direction of the threat. Threat dreams were evaluated using the rules of this scale for determining whether threats were directed at the dreamer, others, or both.
The Framo Threat Scale was used by Trenholme, Cartwright, and Greenberg (1984) in their study of dream dimension differences in women Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 119
undergoing divorce. They found that divorcing women had significantly more dreams containing manifest threat than married women. They also found a non- significant tendency for the dreams of depressed divorcing women, to contain more threat directed towards the self, than the dreams of non-depressed divorcing women.
In addition to the judgements conventionally made using the Framo Threat Scale, this study evaluated threat dreams where threats were directed at the dreamer (alone or with others) for threat mastery. These dreams were rated according to the extent to which the dream involved mastery (usually by the dreamer) of the threat directed at them in the dream. Threatening elements were rated as fully mastered, partly mastered, or not mastered.
Using the Framo Threat Scale, two independent raters, who were both blind to the adjustment scores of individual participants, scored each dream for the presence of threat. Agreement between the raters on the presence or absence of threat was 96%, and the other four percent were agreed upon through discussion. An example of a threat dream was the following dream by Participant 62, a 32-year-old woman, who after nine years of marriage, had been separated for 14 months, and was just beginning to date again:
Dreamt I was being held down by two guys, one was behind me holding his hand around my mouth and the other was holding my legs. They were trying to force themselves onto me. There were people walking around but they did not seem to notice. Then my youngest sister walks past and I manage to say, “help me”, and she goes to get help. So they leave me alone. Participant 62
The number of threatening dreams for each participant was then converted into a percentage, to control for varying rates of recall amongst participants. The average percentage of dreams containing threat themes was 35.64% (SD = 24.92%). Of those dreams that contained threat themes, an average of 61.48% (SD = 33.01%) included threats directed towards the dreamer. Agreement between the Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 120
two raters, on the direction of threat, was 92%, with the rest being decided through discussion. Of the threat dreams that contained threats that were directed towards the dreamer, an average 64.62% (SD = 34.89%) depicted the threat being partially or fully mastered. Agreement between the raters, on threat mastery, was 89%, with the rest being determined through discussion.
An example of a fully mastered threat dream was the following dream by a 42-year-old female who, after 15 years of marriage, had been separated for seven months. At this point, she was “looking forward to getting to the place in my life where (ex-husband) doesn’t hold No. 1 place in my heart. I am also excited about getting my own place, my own car, and meeting someone who loves me and lets me love them.”
I was in a hospital having an operation and so was my son. I was worried and panicking because no one would be with (my son) when he woke. Everyone I asked said no. Finally I managed to get them to operate on him first so I could be there for him when he woke, then I had my operation and I was free to leave. I got a lift to Sydney with a doctor and after he’d stopped a few streets away from my place, I asked him would he take me closer to home. But when we drove around the corner we were at a maze of highways and foolishly I had to admit that I didn’t know where home was. Suddenly he was gone and I was swinging from an elastic rope on the top highway. All my family and friends were lined up there and as I’d swing close to them I was needing and hoping and yelling for them to reach out and grab me but no one did. Eventually the fact sunk in that the only way I was going to be able to stop swinging aimlessly was to make a move myself to get out of there. I knew I’d need a lot of courage and perfect timing but that I’d have to push off the highway and do a big swing right over the top. I finally did and I flew over the top of everybody and landed in a paddock, which was soft, familiar, secure and sweet smelling. I sat there for ages soaking in the peace, tranquillity and strength and then I finally got up and walked away. Participant 121
Relationship Between Diary Inclusions and Adjustment
One of the aims of Study 2 was to assess the relationship between dream inclusions of the stressor, as recorded in dream diaries, and adjustment. Findings of a similar relationship to that found in Study 1, where dream inclusions of the Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 121
stressor were measured by retrospective self-report, would confirm that the two types of methodology produced similar dream recall of salient content. As was found in Study 1, there were no significant correlations between the number of diary dreams that included references to the ex-spouse/separation and adjustment at initial testing (see Table 4.3). However, there was a moderately significant negative relationship between number of diary inclusions and self-rated adjustment at three month follow-up, r (42) = -.412. p = .007, and satisfaction with life at 12 month follow-up, r (42) = -.507, p = .001. There was also a significant, positive relationship between diary inclusions and depression at 12 month follow-up, r (42) = .436, p = .007. The more dreams of their ex-spouse and separation that participants reported in their dream diaries, the less adjusted they tended to be at follow-up.
Regression analyses (using p < .01 significance level to adjust for the multiple analyses) were conducted to test whether inclusions of the ex-spouse or separation in diary-recorded dreams were associated with adjustment at initial testing. These analyses revealed that diary dream inclusions were not significantly associated with initial adjustment on any of the four adjustment measures. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to determine whether diary dream inclusions would predict adjustment over time, when initial adjustment had already been accounted for. Similar to Study 1, this set of hierarchical regressions was conducted in two steps, with initial adjustment entered first, followed by dream content. The aim of entering the factors into the equation in this order was to ensure that it was possible to explore the relative contribution of dream content to the prediction after initial adjustment was taken into account. Diary dream inclusions were found to significantly predict satisfaction with life, over and above the effects of initial satisfaction with life, at three month follow-up, R2 change = .102, F (1, 39) = 8.15, p = .007, and at 12 month follow-up, R2 change = .206, F (1, 34) = 13.16, p = .001. Diary dream inclusions also significantly predicted depression, over and above the effects of initial depression, at 12 month follow-up, R2 change = .168, F (1, 34) = 9.40, p = .004. In addition, diary dream inclusions significantly predicted self-rated adjustment, over and above the effects Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 122
of initial self-rated adjustment, at three month follow-up, R2 change (1, 39) = .153, F change = 9.57, p = .004. In all of these analyses, more diary dream inclusions were predictive of poorer adjustment over time.
Relationship Between Threat Dreams and Adjustment
To investigate the data in relation to Revonsuo’s functional, evolutionary theory of dreaming, the relationship between adjustment and threat themes in diary dreams was assessed. The results were not consistent with the evolutionary theory of dreaming, which predicted a positive correlation between the occurrence of threatening dream content and follow-up adjustment. The percentage of dreams containing threat themes negatively and significantly correlated with self-rated adjustment to the separation event, at initial testing, but not at either follow-up point (see Table 4.3). Threat dreams were also significantly positively correlated with impact of event, at initial testing. There was also a significant positive correlation between the percentage of threat dreams where the threat was self- directed, and impact of event at all three time points. Mastery of self-directed threat was significantly and positively correlated with self-rated adjustment at all three time points. These findings were consistent with the cognitive theories of dreaming, which predicted a negative correlation between threat content and initial adjustment, and a positive correlation between threat mastery within dreams and follow-up adjustment.
Hierarchical regression analyses (using p < .01 significance level to adjust for the multiple analyses) showed that the percentage of dreams containing threat themes was significantly associated with poorer initial self-rated adjustment, R2 = .217, F (1, 35) = 9.71, p = .004. A series of hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to investigate whether the percentage of dreams containing threat themes and mastery of dream threats would predict adjustment at follow-up, after initial adjustment was controlled for. Each of these analyses showed that neither percentage of threat themes nor mastery of threat Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 123
Table 4.3 Bivariate Correlations Between Diary Inclusions, Threat Dreams, Threat Mastery and Adjustment in Separated Dream Diarists (N =42)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
1. Dream Diary Inclusions 1 2. Threat Theme Dreams (TTD) (%) -.072 1 3. Threat to Self Dreams (TTS) (% of TTD) .141 .184 1 4. Mastered Threat (% of TTS) .053 -.413 -.369 1 5. Satisfaction with Life at Time 1 -.101 -.387 -.086 .311 1 6. Depression at Time 1 .047 .328 .185 -.278 -.650*** 1 7. Self-Rated Adjustment at Time 1 -.045 -.458** -.114 .504** .721*** -.656*** 1 8. Impact of Event at Time 1 .100 .397* .423* -.344 -.539*** .616*** -.493** 1 9. Satisfaction With Life at Time 2 -.382 -.205 -.077 .352 .642*** -.352 .501** -.246 1 10. Depression at Time 2 .270 .337 .179 -.339 -.453** .401* -.378 .271 -.625*** 1 11. Self-Rated Adjustment at Time 2 -.412* -.279 -.338 .496** .420* -.314 .473** -.562*** .614*** -.493** 1 12. Impact of Event at Time 2 .273 .177 .400* -.365 -.405* .381 -.388 .725*** -.510** .505** -.694*** 1 13. Satisfaction With Life at Time 3 -.507** -.215 -.252 .345 .511** -.210 .330 -.349 .702*** -.150 .443* -.447* 1 14. Depression at Time 3 .436* .376 .332 -.284 -.486** .472** -.550*** .340 -.522** .393 -.386 .264 -.594*** 1 15. Self-Rated Adjustment at Time 3 -.335 -.280 -.417 .460* .502** -.493** .654*** -.505** .603*** -.445* .747*** -.560*** .474** -.694*** 1 16. Impact of Event at Time 3 .321 .123 .446* -.221 -.439* .358 -.488** .716*** -.423* .180 -.561*** .743*** -.585*** .551*** -.588*** 1
*p < .01; ** p < .005; *** p < .001 Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 124
were significant predictors of scores on any of the four adjustment measures at either follow-up point, after initial adjustment was first entered into the regression equation.
The findings of these analyses showed that where there was a relationship between dream content and adjustment, the association was a negative one. Both dream inclusions of the stressor and dream incorporation of threat themes were related to poor adjustment. Using the diary dream data collection method, incorporation of threat themes was found to be predictive of poorer initial adjustment and dream inclusions were found to be predictive of poorer adjustment at follow-up.
Prediction of Depression
Separate regression analyses were conducted to examine whether or not dreams of the ex-spouse or separation, recorded in dream diaries, would predict levels of depression at either follow-up point. As had been done in Study 1, using questionnaire-reported dream inclusions of the stressor, this set of analyses was conducted to test for consistency or inconsistency with the results of Cartwright (1991). Since Cartwright had found that separated people’s dreams of their ex- spouse predicted an improvement in the depression scores of initially depressed individuals, this analysis aimed to examine whether or not diary-recorded inclusions of the ex-spouse would also predict an improvement in depression scores.
Using the cut-off scores (0 - 9 = normal; 10 or above = mild to severe depression) recommended in the DASS manual (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1996), there were 19 depressed (Depression score M = 13.53, SD = 10.60) and 23 non- depressed (Depression score M = 5.35, SD = 4.60) participants in the Study 2 sample. The results of these analyses showed that diary dreams of ex-spouse did not significantly predict follow-up depression in initially depressed participants, or in initially non-depressed participants. Similarly, diary inclusions did not predict follow-up adjustment, in terms of satisfaction with life or self-rated Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 125
adjustment, in either group. However, more diary-recorded dream inclusions of ex-spouse did significantly predict a more severe impact of event at the three- month follow-up point, R2 = .522, F (1, 21) = 25.06, p = 000, amongst non- depressed participants. While it needs to be acknowledged that this was a very small sample, and these results would need to be verified with a larger population, the results nevertheless do not seem to show a relationship between dreams of the stressor and follow-up adjustment. Furthermore, where there was a relationship between diary inclusions and adjustment, it was in the direction of diary inclusion predicting a worsening of adjustment in initially non-depressed participants.
As was found in Study 1 with retrospectively recalled dream content, dream content recorded in diaries revealed little or no relationship between dream inclusions of the stressor and follow-up adjustment, including depression. Where there was a significant relationship between dream inclusions of the ex-spouse and a follow-up adjustment score, it was in the direction of more diary inclusions predicting a poorer adjustment outcome at follow-up.
The Importance of Personal Dream Meanings
Although the quantitative results suggested a relationship between participants dreaming about their ex-spouses and being less adjusted to their separation, consideration of participants’ own interpretations of their dreams revealed that many participants derived significant meaning, and sometimes insight, from their dreams. For example, a 44 year old, female participant, who had ended her marriage one week previously, after her husband had had two extramarital affairs, recorded the following dream.
I am in my parents house in my parents bed with my ex-spouse. I want to have sex with him, but know it will be an unwise thing to do. We are physically and sexually intimate but I stop it at the point prior to actual intercourse.
Her interpretation of the dream was fairly insightful:
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 126
The dream about my ex-spouse probably relates to the fact that he wants to get back together and keeps ringing me and wants to see me. I don’t hate him. I just can’t live with him and feel ambivalence about trusting him again, despite the fervour of his statements about how much he wants us to get back together.
The next night there was another dream with a similar theme:
On a cruise ship – quite a small one coming into port at a Greek Island. I am with a former ex-spouse (but it is not clear in the dream which of my 2 former ex-spouses it is!). We anchor in a bay as we await disembarkment and I look at the really blue clear water and decide to swim ashore, but after putting my feet in the water I see jellyfish and octopi and decide that though it looks inviting it will be dangerous. I am later at the hotel room on the island and am with my ex-spouse? I feel confident and desirable.
This time, her interpretation was almost a reinforcement of the meaning she had derived from the dream of the previous night, as if she needed to remain vigilant about keeping her distance: I don’t know that I can be sure but I wonder if it’s related to my ex-spouse wanting to get back together – “the water looks inviting but could be dangerous”.
A week later, the same participant reported the following dream:
At a university where I am a senior student or a teacher/lecturer (not sure). But I see a colleague with a much younger man and am told that he is her boyfriend. (The woman is someone I used to work with; she is a strong, attractive, quite opinionated person). I am mildly surprised by the age difference and a bit disapproving. I later go to a party and a younger man i.e., late teens/early twenties (in the dream I’m about 30) wants to take me out. I am reluctant but say he can come shopping with me. He buys me a silver necklace and trails around after me - quite overwhelmingly smitten. Later we go to a rural area and he shows me where the young cattle are herded before auction!
Again, her explanation was a reinforcement of a self-protective belief, as if she needs to be reminded:
I think the second part is about this younger man pursuing me, as a parallel to the behaviour of my ex spouse. He desperately wants us to get back together and is acting a bit immaturely – hence the younger man. Regarding disapproving of a friend’s behaviour in a similar situation, I think that might be maybe my conscience saying indulging in a relationship with someone who is much less mature and very ‘needy’ is a Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 127
dangerous thing? Not sure.
Participant 5
Similarly, Participant 60 took the following dream as a warning:
With TV vet Dr X. We crossed some railway lines to look at local vegetation, which was vines and ferns. Then we went to a house where an Italian family lived. The mother grew veggies under the house – lettuce, cauliflower and beetroot – in a clever system of concrete tiles. As we walked around, I could feel Dr. X’s penis behind me. (While we were married, my husband lied about many things and had an affair. This dream cautions me not to be easily led again even though things look good. Am disappointed that the nicest and most wholesome man can be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Part of my anxiety about being duped again.)
Participant 60
The same participant realised that she might benefit from psychotherapy following this dream:
I was in my room when (husband) came to see me. I was excited about seeing him and was carefully getting ready, as I wanted to look nice. I was looking forward to going out. When he arrived he seemed indifferent to me, and tramped in a lot of dirt and mud on his boots. I got really shitty about the mess and started to sweep it up. He couldn’t see what I was making a fuss about. I started to sweep under the bed too and found old ceramic tiles there – all broken but further towards the back of the bed the tiles were stacked up neatly. I felt despair about the mess, and also noticed that iron filings were getting into my clothes and irritating me. (Really annoyed about ex-spouse and the mess he left, and that he doesn’t care. After this dream I made an appointment to see a counsellor as I feel there is a hidden mess I should confront.)
Participant 60
Thematic Commonalities
Fifteen common themes were identified as predominant in the dreams of the participants. Some of the themes related to loss, rejection, and vulnerability, while others reflected feelings of re-building, positiveness, and the regaining of self-esteem. All 15 themes are listed in Table 4.3, in order of their frequency of Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 128
occurrence across the total dream sample, and then each theme is discussed in more detail. For each theme, an example dream is given.
Table 4.4.
Common Themes in the Diary-Recorded Dreams of Separated Participants, in Order of Frequency ______
Dream Theme Occurrences Across Sample ______
Ambivalence about ex-spouse 67 Loss of control and disaster 66 Sexual attraction and social success 66 Exposure, vulnerability, and confusion 56 Anxiety about children 53 Loss / Being lost 53 Loss of security and support 38 Interpersonal conflict with ex-spouse 35 Sexual and social rejection 28 Survival 27 Cleaning up or covering up a mess 24 Repair, renovation and building 22 Brushes with fame 22 Wedding and wedding ring 13 Past relationships 7
______
Theme of Ambivalence About Ex-Spouse
The most common theme was ambivalence about the ex-spouse. It was not uncommon for participants to dream that they were back together with their spouse under happy circumstances. These dreams seemed to represent the Freudian concept of wish fulfilment, when they occurred in individuals who were living in hope of a marital reconciliation. However, they were quite common even in individuals who had no desire to resume relations with their ex-spouses. The ambivalence theme was illustrated by the following dream by Participant 41, aged 41, who was married for 12 years, and together with her husband for 20 years in Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 129
total. Their marriage ended after her husband’s lover of six months bought and moved into the house next door. Her husband had ended the marriage, but was still spending considerable amounts of time with her and their children. She remained hopeful of a chance that they would get back together again.
I was with my husband in his lover’s room. Her room was full of little interesting nick knack things, quite crowded. I was half dressed (white shirt only) and lying across his lap on her bed. She was trying to get to (my husband, pulling at him. But he seemed relaxed with me. Participant 41
Her interpretation of the dream was as follows:
I am very aware of her and there is the attachment to my husband. The particular significance of me being partly dressed symbolises the sexual and physical connection. The interesting nick knack things symbolise the new things my husband is drawn to, the new life he wants to embrace, let the connection he feels with me too.
Theme of Loss of Control and Disaster
The second most common theme amongst the sample was that of loss of control and disaster. These dreams often took the form of losing control of a vehicle or being caught in a natural disaster or plane crash. For example:
I was driving down a steep hill toward where (a friend) was sitting in the coffee shop, but my car had no brakes. I pondered whether it would have been wiser to walk rather than drive. I knew I would end up crashing to stop the car. My ex-husband’s presence was vaguely up the hill.
Participant 18
Theme of Sexual Attraction and Social Success
Equal second most common theme in the dream sample was that of sexual attraction and social success. It was probably not surprising that at a time when the participants may have been concerned about their prospects in terms of future relationships and social interactions, they commonly dreamed about being Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 130
attracted to (and successful with) dream partners. The following is an example of such a dream:
In a wooden shack with an attractive man; somehow I know it is in south Australia – but I don’t know how I know this. We are out in the country. I have only recently met him. I’m very attracted to him and want to get into bed and have sex with him. (I can’t really make too many connections other than I am probably missing the physical intimacy and sex when I was with my ex spouse.) Participant 5
Theme of Exposure, Vulnerability, and Confusion
Dreams of being inappropriately or incompletely dressed are quite common in the general population (Hall, 1969). For the participants of this study, such dreams were also common, but they also had a particular emphasis on exposure and vulnerability, which seemed to reflect some of the emotions relating to the marital separation. For example:
Having sex in public up against a car with people watching and being really self- conscious, couldn’t believe that I could be doing that. Really upset. Wanting to run away. Trying to cover myself. Didn’t know how I got into that situation. (My private life [divorce and details] being public knowledge perhaps? Looking on at a situation thinking that it isn’t me, isn’t happening and a realisation that it is me and it is happening.) Participant 44
Theme of Anxiety About Children
Anxiety about children was a common theme in the dreams of the participants. For example:
Just then the whole place was hit by a tornado. I raced in and threw myself over a baby in a bassinet. I was killed. But the baby was ok. Participant 16
In a city awaiting invasion. Certainty of death. But we are planning how some including our children, can either survive in the city or escape.
Participant 73
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 131
Theme of Loss / Being Lost
Often the theme of loss, particularly loss of home, was represented in the dreams of the participants. For example:
Am back at the house my ex-spouse and I sold when we separated. It was being painted inside a dark mushroom colour by the new owners. The real estate agent who handled the sale was there and I said that I was cross that they had painted the house, especially that colour. The real estate agent reminded me that it was no longer my house and the new owners could do whatever they wish. Participant 5
The theme of being lost was similar, and represented in particular, feeling of bewilderment and anxiety about where to go, or where to find someone. An example is given below:
I was trying to find my way back to the hotel and went to get a train – it was very confusing. I asked a conductor who told me to walk 10 minutes.
Participant 88
Theme of Loss of Security and Support
Another common theme was fear about personal security, safety, or sadness regarding the loss of the spouse’s support. Sometimes surfacing in the dreams of the participants was the feeling of not being understood or supported by friends and family. Sometimes, participants felt that such people were supporting the ex-spouse rather than supporting them, and this led to feelings of disappointment, isolation and even betrayal. Sometimes the dreams related to fears about the security of one’s family or belongings. In some dreams, this security was actually violated in some way. The following dream illustrated this theme of loss of security:
I had a dream that I’d moved into a new house. It was 3 storey’s high. In the middle of the night I woke and found 4 guys in the kitchen. They attacked me and, though I didn’t see it in the dream, I knew I’d been raped. The next day I went through the house and realized the windows weren’t locked and some were missing. I wasn’t looking forward to Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 132
sleeping there that night, so I decided to spend the night at my parent’s house. Participant 79
Theme of Interpersonal Conflict With Ex-Spouse
With recent conflict with their ex-spouses being likely, there were often dreams of interpersonal conflict involving the ex-spouse, such as these ones:
Dreamt I was in Dalby. I was sitting at a table with my ex and someone else. I had to go to the toilet. I thought about taking my bag, but didn’t. When I got back my bag and my ex were gone. I went to get it back but he said I could have the bag but not the money. My kids were there. Their father was telling them that he should have the money and they agreed. Then my son was saying that everything was my fault. My youngest daughter started saying the same and saying I should move back in with him. My eldest daughter was on my side. We were all fighting when I woke. (My daughters have not been speaking to their dad for a year. The younger has just started again.) Participant 120
Theme of Sexual and Social Rejection
Often, when a person is adjusting to a marital separation in which they were left by the spouse, there are strong feelings of abandonment and rejection. Individuals who have been left, particularly those who have experienced other painful rejections and losses earlier in life, commonly dream of being abandoned or betrayed (Siegel, 2002). When infidelity on the part of the ex-spouse was a factor in the marital breakdown, it is highly likely that these feelings of abandonment will take the form of Sexual Rejection dreams (Siegel, 2002). This was a common theme in the participants of this study, as exemplified by the following dream example:
I went home (teleported!) and was getting in the shower. I was feeling in a really good mood – even better than normal! And asked B (ex-husband) if he wanted to come in with me. He made an excuse and I felt really Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 133
rejected as he always used to want to have a shower with me. I wanted to know what had changed, so I asked him and he said he just didn’t feel like it. I got upset and he told me I was being silly and then he walked away and I was left crying in the shower. Participant 72
Survival Theme
Many Study Two participants dreamed of surviving catastrophic or threatening situations. An example follows:
Dreamt I was in a plane. My cousin was flying it. There was someone else in the plane but not sure who it was. We were all talking and laughing. I suddenly realized I knew we were going to crash. I didn’t say anything because I knew I couldn’t stop it. So I just closed my eyes and hoped it wouldn’t hurt too much. We did crash. There were flames everywhere. I walked away. I was burnt and bleeding. My cousin and the other person died. I remember thinking to myself how lucky I was. There were people running towards the wreck. Someone was running to me, then I woke up. Participant 120
Theme of Cleaning Up or Covering Up a Mess
An interesting theme which seemed to be reasonably common amongst the dreams of this study’s participants was that of cleaning up a mess, dealing with unpleasant or disgusting rubbish, or sorting through chaotic environments. An example of these types of dreams are given below:
Awareness of human body parts in a large green garbage bag on my back veranda. Felt the need to put garbage in a less noticeable area. I get rid off them off the veranda. Participant 4
Theme of Repair, Renovation and Building
At a time when the participants were likely to have been trying to rebuild their lives, their dreams commonly contained stories of repair and renovation, typically of old homes, or building of new ones. An example follows: Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 134
Doing repairs to an old house. Ex-wife and children are there. A car arrives with 4 or 5 mutual friends. Friendly greetings. I give one woman a big hug, which lasts for an inappropriate length of time (I’m aware of this). No one complains. They all admire something I’ve built in the house. End of dream. (No interpretation offered) Participant 59
Brushes with Fame Theme
People in the general population commonly dream of famous individuals and celebrities. The participants of this study commonly experienced such dreams, and the following dream is an example:
Looking at a crowd at a rodeo but could not see any horses. Watching Sarah Jessica Parker walk nude through part of it. The crowd were behind steel gates. In this part I was trying to grab all this food from a cupboard. Was in these underground tunnels moving through the water on life rafts. I had other people with me and some sort of prehistoric animal was moving under the murky water. (No interpretation offered) Participant 62
Wedding and Wedding Ring Theme
Somewhat surprising was the frequency of references to weddings and wedding rings throughout the dreams of the participants. Often the dream weddings did not go as expected, referring perhaps to the participants’ marriages not going as expected. An example follows:
I was bridesmaid for my girlfriends wedding along with four of her sisters. My dress was bright red. I had been ready for ages and finally I decided to go to the toilet. When I came out they had already left without me and I had to walk out of a confessional box right in the middle of the church full of people in my red dress and down the aisle by myself to everyone up the front. Afterwards I was talking to my girlfriend’s mother as I was disillusioned about why she didn’t wait for me and her mother agreed and was very annoyed at her. (Maybe coming out in the open and doing things by myself. Trying to do the right thing but still making a mistake. The red surprises me, as I’d never wear a bright colour like that. I found the mother’s agreement comforting.) Participant 121
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 135
Past Relationship Theme
A common theme that emerged in the participants’ dreams was one of past romantic relationships. In most cases, the dreams were of partners from the distant past, but sometimes, they were more recent love interests. The following example is a dream with this theme:
I’m going to the beach with a boy I dated some years ago. Nothing is really vivid – all I remember is that we unexpectedly meet up, find we still have feelings for each other and decide to go to the beach. Problem is, there is no beach, just a big black pool of water – no matter where we drive to. I also can’t shake the feeling that this was the boy I should’ve married – although I know all too well that it wouldn’t have worked out. (Before bed, I had a discussion about past relationships with a flatmate. I think this may have triggered the dream because I haven’t thought or dreamed about this guy for several years. Wishful thinking perhaps?)
Participant 36
Chapter Discussion
The findings of this study were consistent with the findings of the larger Study 1, in that dream incorporations of the stressor were not found to predict later adjustment. A relationship was again found between dreams of the current stressor and poorer follow-up adjustment. In Study 2, incorporation of the ex- spouse or separation into diary-recorded dreams tended to be correlated with poorer follow-up adjustment, in the same way that Study 1 showed a correlation between questionnaire-recorded dreams of the ex-spouse or separation and poorer follow-up adjustment. Although the methods of dream data collection were different between the two studies, the results were convergent. This confirmed the finding of an association between stressor incorporation in dream content and poor follow-up adjustment, a finding that was inconsistent with the emotional adaptation theories of dream function.
In this study, the incorporation of threat themes in dreams was predictive of poorer initial adjustment, but not follow-up adjustment. This finding was Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 136
consistent with the continuity theory of dreaming which predicted dream content being continuous with concurrent waking adjustment. Mastery of dream threats was positively associated with initial adjustment, a finding that was consistent with dream content incorporating threat mastery being reflective of a waking sense of control. However, mastery did not predict follow-up adjustment when initial adjustment was controlled for, a finding that fitted with the proposition that individuals whose dream content was reflective of a waking sense of control, may have been more likely to be adjusted both initially and at follow-up.
The Study 2 finding that inclusions of the ex-spouse in diary dreams did not significantly predict initial adjustment was consistent with the Study 1 finding that questionnaire-reported dream inclusions did not predict initial adjustment on three of the four adjustment measures. These findings may indicate that inclusions recorded in dream diaries may be more reliable and sensitive predictors than questionnaire-reported inclusions. This explanation would fit with a possible overestimate of inclusions in questionnaire reporting, as has been found in previous research (Schredl, 1999).
Although the dream diary method yielded approximately the same average number of weekly dreams, the questionnaire reports of inclusions were as much as 66% higher than dream-recorded inclusions. It is possible that inclusions recalled in response to the questionnaire item represented an overestimate. It could be speculated that such an overestimate resulted from memory errors or confusion between waking rumination (perhaps whilst in bed before sleep onset) and actual dream content.
Amongst depressed participants, diary-recorded dream incorporations of the stressor did not predict levels of depression at follow-up. This finding was inconsistent with the findings of Cartwright (1991), who had found that initially depressed participants who dreamed of their ex-spouse or separation were less depressed at 12 month follow-up, compared to depressed participants who had no or few dreams of their ex-spouse. This finding was convergent with the finding in Study 1 that questionnaire-reported dream inclusions did not predict depression at Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 137
follow-up. The findings of this study were inconsistent with the emotional problem-solving theories of dreaming, and more consistent with the continuity theories of dream content.
There was a significant correlation between dreams containing threat themes, as measured with the Framo Threat Scale (Framo, Osterweil, & Boszormenyi-Nagy, 1962), and initial adjustment. A greater percentage of dreams containing threat themes predicted lower self-rated adjustment at initial testing. However, there was no significant relationship between threat themes and follow- up adjustment. Furthermore, threat dreams demonstrating mastery of threat by the dreamer did not predict initial or follow-up adjustment. These findings were consistent with the findings of Trenholme, Cartwright, and Greenberg (1984) who found that divorcing women had significantly more dreams containing manifest threat than married women. These findings were also consistent with the continuity theories of dream content, which would predict that people who are less adjusted and feel more threatened by their current circumstances might have more dreams that reflect those waking preoccupations. The findings were, however, inconsistent with functional adaptation theories (e.g. Revonsuo, 2000), which would predict that there should be a relationship between threat mastery in dreams and follow-up adjustment. Revonsuo’s (2000) theory implies that, by allowing the individual to rehearse threat perception and avoidance, dream simulation of threatening events improves the individual’s chances of avoiding real-life threats, leading to an increased likelihood of survival and reproductive success. The current study showed that the dream simulations of threat were not related to improved adjustment. The threatening dreams seemed to be more a reflection of current and previous waking circumstances than future waking threat avoidance.
The thematic analysis of Study 2 revealed some more detailed information about the types of content that were predominant in the dreams of the separated participants. The most common theme across the sample was ambivalence in relation to the ex-spouse, closely followed by the theme of loss of control and disaster, reflecting some of the waking emotional preoccupations and concerns of Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 138
the participants. All of the other common themes similarly reflected what may have been participant’s waking preoccupations and concerns. The need for affiliation was reflected in dreams of sexual attraction and social success. Waking concerns about vulnerability, loss, conflict, rejection, and anxiety about children were reflected in dream themes common in the sample. The predominance of themes relating to anxieties and concerns in this sample was consistent with the cognitive theories of dreaming, particularly the continuity theory of dream content. More particularly, this was consistent with Cartwright, Agargun, Kirkby and Friedman’s (2006) study, which found a significant positive correlation between degree of waking concern about the ex-spouse and the number of dreams where the former partner appeared as a dream character.
The findings of this study revealed something of the complexity and importance of dream meaning for the dreamers, and this could only be captured by the dreamers themselves, in their self-interpretations. These self-interpretations showed that dreams contained abundant meaning for at least some participants. This sense of meaning was consistent with the emotional problem-solving theories of dream function, which hold that individuals are somehow learning from their dream experiences, through integration of current concerns with solutions stored in memory. Indeed, the fact that some dreams seem to be particularly amenable to meaning-making hints at the possibility that some kinds of incorporations might contribute to solutions to emotional problems, even without providing any direct solutions. The making of meaning from dream experiences would thus predict a more successful adaptation, because dream learning could be said to be occurring on both conscious and unconscious levels. Dreamers could be learning and gaining from these dream experiences, without this translating into measurable adjustment. The finding of meaning in the dreams, alongside the finding of a relationship between poor adjustment and dream incorporations of the stressor, was also consistent with Blagrove’s (2000) theory that dreams have meaning, but no function. While some of the richness of participants’ dreams was able to be detailed in Study 2, the identification of common thematic categories did not allow for a Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 139
systematic analysis of individual cases in relation to their particular situations. A closer examination of some of the cases, in relation to contextual information as well as dream content, might highlight differences between those participants who adjusted over time and those who did not. For example, it is possible that many other factors relating to the individual and their circumstances may be related to their adjustment. An individual with a childhood history of abuse who is struggling with financial problems and a violent ex-spouse would not be expected to adjust as easily as an individual with a supportive family and an amicable separation experience, for example. This rationale was the basis of the case study analyses in Study 4, reported in the following chapter. Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 140
CHAPTER FIVE: STUDY THREE
RATIONALE, METHODOLOGY, AND RESULTS
Chapter Contents Rationale for Case Studies Method Participants Materials Circumstances of Separation Survey Dream Diaries Procedure Results Presentation of the Data Analytic Strategy Individual Case Studies Positive Adjustment Cases Case Study 1: Jane Case Study 2: Vera Case Study 3: Roz Case Study 4: Louise Negative Adjustment Cases Case Study 5: Pricilla Case Study 6: Teresa Case Study 7: Karen Case Study 8: Maree Chapter Discussion
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Rationale for Case Studies
Studies 1 and 2 established that separated participants who dreamed more about their ex-spouses and separations were more likely to be poorly than better adjusted initially and at follow-up. The analyses in Studies 1 and 2 challenged the adaptive value of dream content in relation to emotional adjustment, the Study 1 results suggested that personality variables, such as ego strength and coping style may be more important predictors of initial adjustment. This finding was consistent with earlier studies showing clear continuity between waking personality and preoccupations and dream themes and content (Blagrove & Price, 2000; Fisher & Greenberg, 1996; Foulkes, Larson, Swanson & Rardin, 1969; Foulkes & Rechtschaffen, 1964; Hall & Nordby, 1972; Kallmeyer & Chang, 1998). They were also consistent with findings that personality factors and coping strategies are influential in post-separation emotional wellbeing (Cohen & Dekel, 2000). Furthermore, in Studies 1 and 2, levels of initial adjustment emerged as the strongest predictors of adjustment at follow-up. When dream incorporation of stressors added to those predictions, they were predictive of poorer rather than better adjustment. However, the quantitative analyses in those studies may have been unable to capture something of the complexity of how these dreamers differed, in terms of their dream content and prominent dream themes, as well as the individual circumstances of their separation experience. For this reason, Study 3 was designed so that case study analyses could be conducted with eight of Study Two’s 42 participants. The spirit of this study converges with that of the study by Cartwright, Agargun, Kirkby and Friedman (2006), which examined the content of separated participants’ dreams in relation to their levels of current concern.
The qualitative case study analyses aimed to test whether the thematic content of dreams of separated participants, matched on key variables including initial adjustment, who made greater adjustment gains would differ from those who made lesser adjustment gains. If the dreams of those who made greater adjustment over a fixed period of time were found to be similar in thematic content to the dreams of those who made lesser adjustment over the same period Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 142
of time, it could be more confidently claimed that dream content reflected current adjustment without actually facilitating adjustment, supporting the theory that dreams are continuous with waking preoccupation and often have meaning, but no function. If the thematic dream content was reflective of individuals’ current situations, regardless of adjustment group, this would provide support for the continuity theories of dreaming. The functional theories of dreaming, however, would predict that the thematic content of better adjusting participants would contain more incorporation of stressors than that of those making poorer adjustment over time. The problem-solving theories of dreaming might predict a similar finding, but the more recent and more complex version of the theories (Cartwright, Agargun, Kirkby & Friedman, 2006) suggests that stressors need to not only be incorporated in the dreams, but related to older memory material as well, to be useful in improving waking mood.
According to Yin (1994, 2003), case study analyses are most robust, in terms of construct validity and reliability, when multiple sources of evidence are combined. This approach, known as triangulation, means that case study data collection provides an opportunity to both enrich and validate quantitative findings. Triangulation allows for the development of converging lines of inquiry, ensuring that case study findings are corroborated and convincing (Yin, 1994). Looking at each individual case from multiple perspectives essentially provides multiple measures of the same phenomena, but gives a more holistic picture of what is occurring with typical cases of separated participants, at both ends of the adjustment spectrum. In addition, close analyses of several cases allows for replication, again validating and corroborating the findings. Furthermore, such close case analyses may help to reveal something about rival explanations, related to non-dream factors, that might have influenced the adjustment of participants following marital separation.
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Method
Participants
Participants were 8 of the 42 separated people who participated in Study 2. As outlined in Chapter 5, these participants were a sub-group of the separated participants from Study 1. As such, there was a significant amount of quantitative data already gathered about these participants, all of which ensured that multiple sources of evidence could be used to support the construct validity of the current case study design (Yin, 1994). The eight participants were selected on the basis that they were all relatively recently separated (all nine months or less) and all fell in the average range on initial self-rated adjustment (scores of 3 to 7, on a scale of 0 to 10), and initial impact of event (scores of 30 to 71, from potential scores of 0 to 110).
The eight participants were divided into two groups: the four who made the least improvement over the initial three month testing period of the longitudinal study on self-rated adjustment and impact of event; and the four who made the most improvement on these two variables. The four participants who demonstrated the least improvement ranged from regressing 2 points on the self- rated adjustment scale to an improvement of only one point (follow-up score M = 5.50, SD = 1.91), over the initial three-month testing period of the longitudinal study. By contrast, the Most Improved group improved by two to six points (follow-up score M = 9.00, SD = .82).
On the Impact of Event scale, the Least Improved participants’ scores increased by 1 to 14 points (follow-up score M = 51.25, SD = 18.93), while the Most Improved participants’ scores decreased by 16 to 59 points (follow-up score M = 20.50, SD = 10.63). The least improved participants had been separated, on average, for 5.12 months (SD = 3.47 months), while the more improved participants had been separated, on average, for 4.50 months (SD = 2.52 months) months. The difference between the two groups was not statistically significant. Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 144
Nor did the two groups differ significantly on age, years of marriage, hours of sleep, ego strength, boundary thickness, or initial self-rated adjustment, depression, impact of event, or satisfaction with life.
Materials
Circumstances of Separation Survey
On the last page of the follow-up questionnaire booklet that was sent to participants after three months, was an almost-blank, full page. At the top of the page was a brief note inviting them to: “Please write a little on this page about the circumstances of your separation. Include information about what led to the separation, who made the decision to end the partnership, what were the main difficulties for you after the separation, and how it has affected your life and happiness.” The remainder of the page was filled with lines upon which to write. This invitation was deliberately open-ended to allow participants to write about what they wanted to, and about what most concerned them, all without the interference or bias of any particular line of questioning.
Dream Diaries
Each participant kept a dream diary for four weeks, as described in Chapter Four.
Procedure
Change in self-rated adjustment and impact of event over the initial three- month data collection period formed the basis of participant allocation to the two Improvement groups (Least Improved and Most Improved) for the case study analyses. Change over the full 12 month period was not used for this purpose, because most of the adjustment change, that took place across all of the separated participants in this research project, occurred during the first three months, with Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 145
no significant change after that. While this three month ‘window’ represented different points in the recovery period of different participants, restricting Study 3 participants to only those separated for nine months or less aimed to capture relationships between dream content, circumstances, personality and adjustment that occurred in the relatively early separation period.
Results
Presentation of the Data
The importance of developing a specific analytic strategy has been articulated by several leading proponents of case study research (e.g., Miles & Huberman, 1984; Yin, 1994). They have suggested that analytic techniques, such as making a matrix of categories and placing the evidence within such categories, tabulating the frequency of different events, and creating data displays, are useful to begin with, and allow for placing the evidence in order prior to actual analysis. Following this suggestion, the individual case studies in this study were first presented in tabular form. First, each case was identified as either a participant who had made a positive or negative adjustment, and descriptive data, including age, duration of marriage, and length of separation was then detailed. Each participant’s Circumstances of Separation Survey and volunteered autobiographical data were then summarised and recorded, along with a summary of some of the important qualitative and quantitative data that had been collected about them, including their position in relation to the larger group of 42 dream diarists on ego strength, boundary thickness, and avoidant coping.
The dream diary for each participant was analysed for the presence of the themes identified in Study 2 (see Chapter 4). Occasionally, a participant had recorded a dream that did not fit into any of the pre-determined thematic categories. In these instances, a new category was created. A table is presented for each participant, outlining the categories (positive and negative, and thematic) within which the participant recorded one or more dreams. Also recorded in the Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 146
table are the frequencies of dreams in each of the thematic categories. Following this table, an example dream for each thematic category represented in the participant’s diary is presented, along with any self-interpretation offered by the participant.
Analytic Strategy
Yin (1994) has suggested that the preferred analytic strategy for case studies is to follow theoretical propositions that led to the case studies, their objectives and design. The analytic strategy here followed theoretical propositions that arose from analysis of the data in the first two studies, namely that dream content was reflective of the waking concerns of the dreamer rather than of an adaptive process. An additional proposition was that follow-up adjustment may be related to the individual’s particular circumstances and personality characteristics. More detailed qualitative information was hoped to illustrate some of the many complex and interrelated factors that may influence over how well individuals adjust to their new situation. The research questions that the analytic strategy was designed to address were:
1. Would participants who made a positive improvement in adjustment over a three-month time span record fewer negative and more threatening dream themes than those who made positive improvement as the continuity theory would predict? Alternatively, would positive adjusters report many more negative, threatening dreams than those who made no improvement, as the emotional adjustment theory would predict?
2. Would past traumatic experiences and the current separation circumstances be different for those who made lesser or greater adjustment gains during that time span?
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3. Would volunteered autobiographical data help explain some of the thematic dream content, and the differences between dream content in Least Improved and Most Improved participants?
Individual Case Studies
Positive Adjustment Cases
Case Study 1: Jane
Category: Positive adjustment Code: 2002
SEPARATION CIRCUMSTANCES: SUMMARY
Pseudonym: Jane Age: 30 Married: 1 yr Separated: 2 months
Jane and her ex-husband had married after four months of dating and she became pregnant within two weeks of the wedding. At that time, Jane was still going through custody problems relating to her first child and a previous relationship. Jane and her husband lived with his parents while renovating their first home, and she suffered antenatal depression. Neither of them had much experience with effective communication and Jane felt that her ex-husband was emotionally abusing her. She made the decision to leave the marriage because of the abuse, and then suffered a loss of self-esteem and confidence. Her ex-husband continued to be abusive on contact and told people lies about her; he stalked her and called her a whore. People in her church treated her differently because she left her husband. Jane felt that the experience had helped her to learn to believe in herself and recognise her own needs, values and boundaries. She had no regrets about her marriage and felt that it enabled her to grow, gain a new perspective of life, and understand other people’s struggles.
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Table 5.1
Quantitative Data for Jane
Dream Variable Number Threat Variable Percentage Questionnaire Inclusions 1 Threat Dreams 25 Diary Dreams 28 Threat to Self 29 Diary Inclusions 8 Mastered 100
Note: Questionnaire Inclusions: Number of dreams recalled in the past week that included ex-spouse/separation Diary dreams: Number of dreams recorded over four week period Diary inclusions: Number of diary-recorded dreams that included a reference to the individual’s ex-spouse or separation Threat dreams: Percentage of diary-recorded dreams containing threat Threat to self: Percentage of diary-recorded threat dreams, where threat was directed at the dreamer Mastered: Percentage of diary-recorded threat to self dreams, where threat was mastered or partially mastered
Table 5.2
Comparison of Jane with Diarist Group Overall
Jane Diarist Group Overall Variable Score Mean (SD) Range Ego Strength 19 29 (8.50) 6 - 43 Boundary Thickness 39 33.64 (9.31) 19 - 52 Avoidant Coping 10 13.31 (4.74) 8 - 29 Change in Self Rated Adjustment +3 +1.18 (2.33) -6 - +9 Change in Impact of Event -23 -12.74 (19.56) -59 - +22
Table 5.3
Dream Diary Theme Summary for Jane
Dream Diary Theme Summary Negative Themes No. Positive Themes No. Loss of Security and Support 6 Sexual Attraction and Social Success 3 Loss / Being Lost 4 Repair, Renovation & Rebuilding 2 Ambivalence About Ex-Spouse 3 Brush With Fame 1 Loss of Control and Disaster 2 Cleaning up Mess 1 Anxiety About Children 2 Exposure 2 Interpersonal Conflict With Ex-Spouse 1 Total Negative Themes 20 Total Positive Themes 7 Note: No. = Number of dreams recorded in dream diary containing these themes Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 149
Table 5.4
Dream Diary Themes and Examples for Jane
Loss of Security and Support Dream example Self-Interpretation Beach at nighttime – running with a girl away No interpretation offered. from a man. I was finding it hard to run. Cold. Big spot light looking for us. We ran past a tribal camp on my left. Next thing we are in a shopping centre, still nighttime, running from shop to shop, looking for a place to hide.
Loss / Being Lost Dream example Self-Interpretation Driving down a road. I’m surrounded by open No interpretation offered. bush land. I’m following two other cars, but it’s hard to see because there is lots of smoke. I’m worried, not sure if I can drive through the fire. There are black cougars on the road. They are trying to stop me.
Ambivalence About Ex-Spouse Dream example Self-Interpretation My ex-husband went past in a maroon car. I My ex-husband’s attitude in the dream is realistic caught up to him when I got home. I had the of real life. He didn’t show a caring attitude thought that I wised he still liked me. The feeling towards me and this is evident in his actions. quickly passed. He wanted me to sign some letters. I didn’t know which ones to look at. I quickly glanced at his mail he was to post. There was one being sent to a single parent group and one going to a singles chat line. The envelopes were pale blue. I felt jealous.
Loss of Control and Disaster Dream example Self-Interpretation An old girlfriend from my past came to my house The picture of Christ represents belief system. to tell me about a parachuting accident. There were 4 people parachuting. My girlfriend was one Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 150
and she saw the accident. A man was parachuting too fast and slammed into a tree. She said it was horrible. We were talking about the accident on the back verandah. The garden was tropical and very green. I remember a contemporary picture of Jesus Christ on the verandah.
Anxiety About Children Dream example Self-Interpretation On a farm involved in a working bee. Outside a I’m looking for accommodation at the moment. lantern explodes and sets fire to a tree stump. A man is looking for his wheelbarrow. When the stump exploded, I looked over to my left and saw my mother in law* talking to someone. She was minding the baby. I didn’t now why she was there. An old girlfriend shows up to tell me she’s on the move and do I want her old room I then left the working bee because my son was very tired, so I went home. On the way home, I was in the passenger seat, an old friend was driving. At a T- intersection, a guy in a big Ute almost ran us over.
Exposure Dream example Self-Interpretation Sitting in the passenger seat of a car, I was Possible meaning – relief at expressing emotions waiting for my husband to show up. I was that were bottling up. urgently needing to go to the toilet, so I urinated in the car using a bowl. I was relieved. To my right was an old farmhouse with white peeling paint. It was two stories.
Interpersonal Conflict with Ex-Spouse Dream example Self-Interpretation Sitting in a car with a black man and my ex- No explanation offered. husband. His car wouldn’t start. We got out and jumped into mine. We were down a side street in a dark part of town. The black man, a male friend of my ex-husband’s, and I got in the car. My ex- Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 151
husband was locking his and another black man comes past. He has a gun and he’s shooting at someone. My ex-husband’s friend and I pretended not to look. The shooter points the gun at his friend and drags him out o f the car. I pretended to be asleep. My ex-husband and I take off to look for him and end up in a huge refrigerated warehouse. We know something’s going on, and my ex-husband’s friend is inside somewhere. We leave the warehouse riding a horse, but get stopped on the way by two men. Another man (the big boss) comes up to us and says if we want to see our friend, then we need to get together for a meeting. I organize a meeting in the ‘marital home’. I asked him his name and he said it was Esther. My ex-husband wasn’t happy about the man coming out to our place. I was trying to figure out a way of cornering the man Esther inside the house and have the family outside with guns. I wasn’t happy with my ex- husband, because he didn’t seem that worried about his friend.
Sexual Attraction and Social Success Dream example Self-Interpretation I was bush walking. It was beautiful and green. This is what I like to do in real life. I love water When I reached the bottom of the walk, I turned too. I would like to share this passion with a around and walked back. It was going uphill. A companion. man stopped me and handed me my back pack. I had left it down the bottom. We walked back, he led in front. I noticed he had a brown stain on his pants. His pants were white. He was a stranger on my left was water. It was very clear and cold. He suggested I try a swim. It was too cold. When we reached the end of the walk, I said “down to your left is a really nice Italian restaurant”. He said he hadn’t been there, but mentioned another restaurant.
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Repair, Renovation & Rebuilding Dream example Self-Interpretation Walked into work (vet clinic). I was talking on a I work part-time in a clinic. We recently mobile phone. A girl ran me up to say hello. I renovated and the workmate in the dream is an wasn’t sure who it was. A workmate was putting employee of the practice. I feel that my life is putty onto a blue wall. She was renovating. I had going through a renovation at the moment. gone into work because I had forgotten to pick up something.
Brush With Fame Dream example Self-Interpretation On a racing track. Time trials for commonwealth I have been thinking and recording my games. There were five girls racing. One was achievements for the past few years. Maybe it Cathy Freeman. She didn’t get in. It was a funny was a display of confidence in my ability that I looking racetrack. Next thing I’m in a house in a normally lack in waking life. kitchen, talking to a girl about athletics. She was saying she could have been a good athlete if it wasn’t for her leg. I asked her if she was a javelin thrower. She had red hair. I told her that I wasn’t an athlete but into smart stuff like science.
Cleaning up Mess Dream example Self-Interpretation I had to baby-sit twins for a friend of my ex- Lack of appreciation for what I do. Meaning my husband’s. They slept in the pram for the night in ex-husband and mother. mum and dad’s room. She was supposed to pick them up in the morning. She was very late. She didn’t even say thank you. The boy and girl had turned from babies into 8 year old by the time she picked them up. They were tall and I said to her they were very smart. Before the twins were picked up there were lots of people coming and going from the house. A friend showed up because I was selling a piece of furniture. It was a hectic morning. The boy twin that night going to sleep had vomited in the pram over himself and the girl twin. I was not happy about having to clean it up.
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Jane: A Summary
Jane had a poor relationship with her mother and had suffered emotional and psychological childhood abuse. As an adult, she had endured more than one traumatic relationship breakdown. She lacked confidence and self-esteem and had hurriedly entered a relationship with her ex-husband. Subsequently, she became pregnant, suffered postnatal depression, and felt unsupported by her husband and her family. She described her husband as psychologically abusive and resolved to leave the marriage after only a year. Even after all of this tremendous upheaval, she was beginning to frame these experiences and what she had learned from them in a positive way, only a few short months after the separation. Her below average score on Ego Strength and her above average Boundary Thinness may have reflected some degree of fragility and vulnerability. Nevertheless, her lower score on Avoidant Coping indicated a tendency not to rely on avoidant strategies for coping with stressors.
She was not sleeping terribly well, only managing to get approximately 5.5 hours per night, compared to sleeping about 7.5 hours per night prior to the separation. Her retrospective recall of her dreams on the questionnaire was much lower than her recall using the dream diary, where she recorded an average of one dream per night. Her relatively high dream recall was consistent with her boundary score, indicating thinner than average boundaries. Similarly, she reported twice as many dreams that included her ex-spouse in her dream diary per week than she had reported on the questionnaire. This seemed to indicate a disinclination to dwell on the content of her dreams, including salient content. Her dreams were predominantly negative, but she reported few nightmares and relatively little nightmare distress, perhaps indicating a tendency to pay little attention to the negativity of her dream content. Although a quarter of her dreams contained threatening elements, less than a third of the threat was self-directed, and all of the threats that were self-directed were mastered in the dream. This seemed to reflect Jane’s growing sense of control over her situation.
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Case Study 2: Vera
Category: Positive adjustment Code: 2089
SEPARATION CIRCUMSTANCES: SUMMARY
Pseudonym: Vera Age: 53 Married: 7 yrs Separated: 8 mths
Vera left her husband mainly because of his increased paranoia. He was a long-term marijuana user and over the past few years, had become more and more paranoid about everything. They lived 35 kilometres from the nearest town and their home was like a fort. Visitors were actively discouraged. She could only leave to go shopping and he refused to leave the property at all. They had no social life and her husband became agitated whenever she spoke to anyone else. He had even started to object to her reading books. Although she loved her husband, Vera felt she must leave for her own sanity. “I was scared one day I’d wake up and it would be too late for me to have a life.” Vera considered the separation experience had been very amicable and civilised. She felt guilty about leaving her husband as he had relied heavily upon her. However, prior to the second data collection, she learned that he had a new partner living with him, which made her feel better about having left. She still spoke occasionally to her ex-spouse on the telephone, and these conversations were usually fairly friendly. However, she felt that he would sometimes try to hurt her and she remained concerned about her belongings, which he would not return to her. As a result of the separation, she had moved to a large city to be near her family. She felt quite isolated in the city and found it difficult to socialise or interact with others “partly I suppose through being isolated from others for so long.”
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Table 5.5
Quantitative Data for Vera
Dream Variable Number Threat Variable Percentage Questionnaire Inclusions 4 Threat Dreams 59 Diary Dreams 22 Threat to Self 77 Diary Inclusions 4 Mastered 50
Table 5.6
Comparison of Vera with Diarist Group Overall
Vera Diarist Group Overall Variable Score Mean (SD) Range Ego Strength 19 29 (8.50) 6 - 43 Boundary Thickness 46 33.64 (9.31) 19 - 52 Avoidant Coping 14 13.31 (4.74) 8 - 29 Change in Self Rated Adjustment +6 +1.18 (2.33) -6 - +9 Change in Impact of Event -35 -12.74 (19.56) -59 - +22
Table 5.7
Dream Diary Theme Summary for Vera
Dream Diary Theme Summary Negative Themes No. Positive Themes No. Loss / Being Lost 1 Cleaning up/Covering up a Mess 1 Loss of Control and Disaster 1 Sexual Attraction and Social Success 1 Ambivalence About Ex-Spouse 1 Exposure, Vulnerability and Confusion 1 Sexual & Social Rejection & Failure 1 Total Negative Themes 5 Total Positive Themes 2
Note: No. = Number of dreams recorded in dream diary containing these themes
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Table 5.8
Dream Diary Themes and Examples for Vera
Loss / Being Lost Dream example Self-Interpretation I’m asleep in my bed when I become aware of a I don’t have any really, except that I heard presence. I turn over and there is someone else in dreaming of death means a new beginning. I hope bed with me. At first I think it’s an old man that is what this dream was about. It was a very because the body is so thin and old looking. I distressing and realistic dream. At first, I thought discover that the person is in fact a young man. it was really happening. I must say though that at He is obviously dying. His skin is drawn tight no stage did I feel frightened of the presence. over his face and has a translucent appearance. Can’t think of anything in my waking life that this His body is just a skeleton with skin stretched could refer to. Dreams like this make me wonder over it. He asks me where everybody is then says about just what is going on in my sub- ‘I haven’t got long left’. He appears to be getting consciousness. Sometimes I think maybe I am distressed asking over and over for someone. I put going crazy. my arms around him to comfort him. I stroke his face and tell him it’s okay, I’m with him and I won’t leave. He starts to cry. I gently rock him back and forth in my arms, whispering over and over that it’s okay. I know he is dying and I tell him I love him, he tells me he loves me too and passes away. I lie there holding him close for a while, then roll over and go back to sleep.
Loss of Control and Disaster Dream example Self-Interpretation I am driving a strange car. I can’t figure out why I Haven’t much of a clue unless it means I feel am having so much trouble; after all I have a truck foolish. I have been told often that I am too much license and can drive almost anything. For some of a perfectionist when it comes to myself I know reason I can’t see over the steering wheel. After a I get really annoyed at myself when I do while I realise it’s because I am sitting on the something stupid. Especially when it is something floor instead of the seat. I feel foolish and quickly I know how to do. Lately more and more I seem look around to see if anyone is watching me. to be doing stupid things. For example stuffing up keeping this dream record. Sometimes I can’t believe I am being so stupid, I used to be organised.
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Ambivalence About Ex-Spouse Dream example Self-Interpretation The phone rings, it is my ex, speaking in hiss I am obviously not over the separation yet. He still sexiest voice. He says: ‘Hello, babe, how are has the power to hurt me even if it’s only with a you?” My heart flutters, as I still love him. As I go laugh. He seems unable to understand how much to answer, another woman’s voice answers. I he has hurt me over the last nine months or so. For realise that somehow, we have a crossed line. I do some reason he seems to think we can still be the not hang up though I know I should. I listen in. He same as we were without the intimacy. My ex asks her if she is free this weekend as he can get phones me on a regular basis even though both away. She doesn’t know so he gives her his my family and I have asked him not to. I find I get number to call back. He gives the number out along okay most of the time but nearly every time back to front. After he hangs up I ring him and tell he calls I get very upset and go back almost to him his mistake and he laughs at me. square one. The problem is that at the moment most of my belongings are still at his place. He has been reluctant to return them to me on the basis that the gear is quite safe at his place and that I can go back anytime I like to collect it. My problem is that there is another woman living in the house with him and I can’t face going back and be expected to socialise with her. This is something he simply cannot understand. Whenever I have to get in touch with him I write because it’s easier for me that way. I can’t call because she answers the phone.
Exposure, Vulnerability and Confusion Dream example Self-Interpretation Dreamed I caught train into town for some reason Think it means I feel exposed alone and think I was in Sydney. Don’t know Sydney so vulnerable. On a day-to-day basis, I don’t like can’t figure why I was there. I was carrying a being in crowded situations and avoid them folder of papers and knew I had to go somewhere whenever possible. to get some one to read them. I was shocked when
I got off the train to find I was wearing a completely see through outfit. It was flesh coloured and made of something like a very fine net fabric. It came to my knees and was a crossover style that wanted to open at the front. I had nothing on underneath it. I had to cross Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 158
through a large park and was very aware of people staring at me. Then I came to a major intersection there was a parade going by. Everyone was cheering and waving at the procession. I stood in the crowd hoping that no one would notice me. Then the parade was over and the people began to disperse. Suddenly I was completely in the open and people started pointing fingers and jeering at me. I ran into a high-rise office block got into a lift and went to the office to get someone to read my papers. The people followed me jeering and laughing. Some start prodding me, they are hurting, I am afraid.
Sexual and Social Rejection and Failure Dream example Self-Interpretation I’m at a dance. I am standing on something I feel it means that I’m lonely and want company. looking down on all the people on the dance floor. I want to be part of life again and don’t know how There are hundreds of people there. Every to join in, where to go, how to start over anew. On different size and sort imaginable. There are old the home front, at the moment I am very much people, young children teenagers, and middle- alone and feeling it. Both my mother and my son aged people. They are from every race you can have gone on holidays so there isn’t really anyone think of. They also come from every different to communicate with. I share a house with my son class from the poorest to the richest. Everyone is and it’s very quite and lonely without him. I miss happy. They all have a partner. I want to join in mum badly as I usually talk to her on a daily but can’t as I’m alone. I feel incredible loneliness basis. My daughter is still here but she has been and isolation. I would give anything to be one of very busy with a sick child and trying to work so them, but I know I can’t. I know I will spend my hasn’t much time for anyone else at the moment. life looking on at others being happy and I will never be able to be one of them. All the people are laughing and having a great time. It looks like so much fun.
Cleaning up or Covering up a Mess Dream example Self-Interpretation I am with my daughter; there is something on the Since writing this I have decided to sell my horse ground. I can’t see what it is but feel it might be a to my ex. I know he loves him as much as I do body or something. She calls out for me to get a and I have decided the only way forward is to not Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 159
tarp to cover it. I run looking for one and find two. look back. This was a most painful decision for One is large the other is small. I don’t know how me to take but I think that I am ever going to big the thing she wants to cover is so I take the move on I have to have closure. My ex has since larger one. I return to her and we spread out the agreed to send my stuff down. So maybe at last tarp. The tarp is huge and way too big, but we try there will be a reprieve for me. to make do with it.
Sexual Attraction and Social Success Dream example Self-Interpretation I am making love to someone. It is the most Frustration possibly? I woke having the most wonderful experience. The person making love to intense orgasm I can remember. I am sure the me is very gentle and caring. We are on our sides person wasn’t my ex. He never was gentle. I can’t facing each other. He stokes the side of my face remember the face or any part of whoever it was. and brushes my hair back over my shoulder It was just a beautiful experience. Possibly I am running his fingers through it as he goes. It feels hoping someone will one day love me the way I wonderful. Slowly he runs his hand down my want to be loved, for myself not what I can back, my whole body tingles. The lovemaking is provide. slow and gentle. It seems as if we are one. I feel so close to this person. It’s as if not only are our bodies joined but our minds and spirit as well.
Vera: A Summary
Having lived in an isolated situation for many years with a paranoid husband who controlled and regulated almost all of her activities, Vera had made the difficult decision to leave a familiar and comfortable incarceration. She was feeling lost and lonely in her new environment, and her amicable feelings toward her ex-husband were tinged with guilt and trepidation. Nevertheless, she remained convinced that she had made the right decision in leaving. She was not sleeping very well and only managing to get around 4.5 hours per night compared to 7.5 hours prior to the separation. Her scores on the quantitative measures indicated that she was a sensitive type, with very thin boundaries, and lower than average ego strength. These factors were consistent with her relatively high level of dream recall. However, she recalled fewer than average nightmares and only an average Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 160
amount of nightmare distress. Consistent with her emotional reaction to the separation, her dreams contained four dreams of her ex-spouse and a significant concentration of threat themes, with the majority of the threat directed at herself. However, in half of these dreams, the threat was mastered. She reported more dreams with negative than positive themes, and the most common themes were those of loss, ambivalence, vulnerability and rejection. Reading her dream content, one gets the impression that she has not yet come to terms with her anger about the losses she has suffered. One also gets a sense of her feelings of guilt and powerlessness. While the content of Vera’s dreams certainly reflects her current emotional state, there is not a clear relationship between them and her improved adjustment. Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 161
Case Study 3: Roz
Category: Positive adjustment Code: 2082
SEPARATION CIRCUMSTANCES: SUMMARY
Pseudonym: Roz Age: 30 Married: 3 years Separated: 4 mths
Roz met and married her American husband, 5 ½ years her junior, in England and later they moved to Australia. They drifted apart. She was busy with her job and he started to make his own friends through his work. She began to sense, more and more, that he didn’t want to be with her anymore – he stayed out late and wasn’t affectionate. Whenever Roz tried to talk about it with her husband, he would say that he still loved her and wanted to be with her. Roz believed that this was for the sake of getting his spouse’s visa. Eventually one of his friends said that this was obvious, so Roz confronted her husband. He denied it, but moved out two days later. Soon after, he moved in with a woman that Roz believed he had been seeing for some time. Roz wanted to work things out, but her husband was not interested. This left her devastated and depressed. She lost a great deal of weight and felt that there was no point in living. She found talking to friends helped her through the ordeal and by the three-month follow-up point in the study, she was feeling “happier without him, doing things I wouldn’t have done with him”, but nevertheless saying, “I still miss him and think about how I could have done things differently.” Deep down, however, she described a sense that “I am better off without him in my life.”
Table 5.9
Quantitative Data for Roz
Dream Variable Number Threat Variable Percentage Questionnaire Inclusions 1 Threat Dreams 33 Diary Dreams 7 Threat to Self 50 Diary Inclusions 0 Mastered 100
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 162
Table 5.10
Comparison of Roz with Diarist Group Overall
Roz Diarist Group Overall Variable Score Mean (SD) Range Ego Strength 28 29 (8.50) 6 - 43 Boundary Thickness 34 33.64 (9.31) 19 - 52 Avoidant Coping 17 13.31 (4.74) 8 - 29 Change in Self Rated Adjustment +2 +1.18 (2.33) -6 - +9 Change in Impact of Event -22 -12.74 (19.56) -59 - +22
Table 5.11
Dream Diary Theme Summary for Roz
Dream Diary Theme Summary Negative Themes No. Positive Themes No. Loss of Control/Disaster 2 Cleaning up Mess 1 Exposure 1 Sexual and Social Rejection 1 Total Negative Themes 4 Total Positive Themes 1 Note: No. = Number of dreams recorded in dream diary containing these themes
Table 5.12
Dream Diary Themes and Examples for Roz
Loss of Control/Disaster Dream example Self-Interpretation I was walking with a group of people across None. different countries. Not sure what we were trying to find. We sat down for a rest at the edge of a cliff. I walked up a bit further and found a fence with electric fences set up in front to keep people out and decided we wouldn’t get past. I started to walk back to the others who had walked to the edge of the cliff to have a look down at the ocean. It turned out to be volcanic and bits of lava started Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 163
to shoot up over the cliff. Everyone started running out of the way towards me and I started running too. One lady got hit in the back and she fell to the ground, dead. She was someone’s mother.
Exposure Dream example Self-Interpretation I was out night clubbing with friends and I needed I’ve been going out night clubbing with my to go to the toilet. I lined up in the queue, to friends a lot now that I’m single. discover that I had to crawl through a hole, so I decided not to go.
Sexual and Social Rejection Dream example Self-Interpretation My friend wanted to go to the toilet, but came My friend is a very strongly opinionated person back to tell me she couldn’t get across a puddle of and always tells me exactly how she feels about water, so I took a towel to place over the puddle, everything. She often makes me feel like I’m but the puddle was too big. The toilet was doing the wrong thing. outside, down a long path. My friend was annoyed, made me feel inadequate/not good enough.
Cleaning up Mess Dream example Self-Interpretation I was in a very large place like a museum, with I might have been dreaming about my sister my mum and sister and people from work walking because she was coming to stay with me for the through different displays. One was a nature weekend. display with real grass, trees, rocks, creek and animals (frog). Next was a big kitchen and everyone was cleaning up the mess. It was like we had become servants. We were putting waste into buckets, scraping food off plates. Mum was pouring the runny scraps into one bucket, then giving the plates, etc to me to scrape off the chunky bits into another bucket somewhere else. Mum was telling me not to put chunky bits in her bucket. Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 164
Roz: A Summary
At the time of the study, Roz was trying to come to terms with the idea that she may have been used, by her husband, for the purposes of obtaining a visa. She felt rejected and inadequate and was trying to re-establish a social life as a single person. She was not sleeping well and only managing to get around four hours of sleep per night, compared to around seven hours per night prior to the separation. Her score on the Boundary Questionnaire was close to average and she also had close to average ego strength. Her average boundary thickness was consistent with her low dream recall and low number of inclusions of her ex- spouse in her dreams. (She reported a rapid loss of dream recall upon awakening.) Only one third of her dreams contained threatening elements, with only half of them containing threat that was directed at her. In all of the dreams containing self-directed threat, the threat was mastered, perhaps reflecting her strength and self-belief. While her dreams were more likely to reflect negative than positive themes, her personality scores were consistent with her improved adjustment over the initial three-month study period. However, her higher than average score on avoidant coping was not. Her tendency to use avoidant coping was consistent with her Circumstances of Separation survey, which revealed that she was aware that she had been in denial about her husband’s reasons for staying with her, when this was clear to others around her. The high level of threat mastery in her dreams seemed to reflect her beginning sense of gaining control in her waking life.
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 165
Case Study 4: Louise
Category: Positive adjustment Code: 2083
SEPARATION CIRCUMSTANCES: SUMMARY
Pseudonym: Louise Age: 43 Married: 16 yrs Separated: 4 mths
Louise was absolutely unprepared for her husband leaving her. He had apparently been planning to leave for about three months before he actually left. Their relationship hadn’t been good for a couple of years; they had put it down to hormonal upheavals relating to her turning 40 a couple of years previously. Louise felt that she had starved her husband of affection and they seemed unable to communicate about their problems. She felt that this made him vulnerable to the advances of a work colleague who took advantage of the situation and showed him some interest and affection. Her husband and the work colleague slept together after a personal discussion, and he admitted what had happened three days later. He requested a three-month separation so they could have space to work things out. Louise found that the hardest thing was adjusting to life as a single parent to their 13-year-old son. She had no income except for welfare payments, but was able to obtain some financial assistance from family. After a few months, her husband began paying maintenance and things improved somewhat. They kept in contact by phone and she hoped that they might reconcile. Neither of them were having an easy time of it. Her ex-husband became involved with another woman, but there were also problems in this relationship. Louise tried to take comfort in her church and religious beliefs, and she quickly learned whom her real friends were. She began taking more time for herself and worked on reducing her stress levels. She and her ex-husband began working on better communication and she remained hopeful that they might be able to reconcile.
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 166
Table 5.13
Quantitative Data for Louise
Dream Variable Number Threat Variable Percentage Questionnaire Inclusions 1 Threat Dreams 0 Diary Dreams 2 Threat to Self N/A Diary Inclusions 0 Mastered N/A
Table 5.14
Comparison of Louise with Diarist Group Overall
Louise Diarist Group Overall Variable Score Mean (SD) Range Ego Strength 26 29 (8.50) 6 - 43 Boundary Thickness 26 33.64 (9.31) 19 - 52 Avoidant Coping 9 13.31 (4.74) 8 - 29 Change in Self Rated Adjustment +4 +1.18 (2.33) -6 - +9 Change in Impact of Event -16 -12.74 (19.56) -59 - +22
Table 5.15
Dream Diary Theme Summary for Louise
Dream Diary Theme Summary Negative Themes No. Positive Themes No. Sexual Attraction and Social Success 2 Total Negative Themes 0 Total Positive Themes 2 Note: No. = Number of dreams recorded in dream diary containing these themes
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 167
Table 5.16
Dream Diary Themes and Examples for Louise
Sexual Attraction and Social Success Dream example Self-Interpretation I was asked to be a guest model at a charity Here the dream ends – I woke up! So I’ve no idea fashion parade because of having lost quite a lot what questions were asked or anything about how of weight though attending weight watchers. (I’m I modelled this outfit. I felt really positive and in the process of losing 45 kilos. I’ve lost 25 happy with myself and my appearance and already since 8th November 2001 and have privileged to be asked to participate but also “why another 20 to lose). I got to choose an outfit to choose me, I haven’t done anything outstanding or model from quite a selection and wore a full out of the ordinary or exceptional to warrant being length flowing skirt in a very pale like green asked to do this?” But I thanked whoever it was miniature check, I think the top was a multi graciously, for thinking of me. I’m not used to coloured floral print with a really dark green receiving compliments so I find it something hard bomber style jacket in a quilted satin over it. Just to accept, but just try to be nice, say ‘thank you’ before walking out onto the catwalk, there was a and keep going with whatever I’m doing at the person backstage checking each of us to make time. sure everything was right. When she turned around to check me, I found it to be a girlfriend of mine I first me when I was 14. We clicked straight away at first sight and were best friends for 56 years until she moved inter-state when I lost contact with her. I’ve seen her twice since then most recently about three years ago, but have lost contact with her again. In the dream she is as surprised as me to see each other and comments favourable on my weight loss and tells me I look fantastic. She quickly checks me over and then sends me on my way. On entering the stage the male compere (unidentified) stops me to conduct a brief interview before I head down the catwalk.
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 168
Louise: A Summary
Louise was not a prolific dreamer, and this was indicated both by her dream recall on the questionnaire and the dream diary reports. Her low level of dream recall was consistent with her Boundary Thickness score, which indicated thicker than average boundaries. She was sleeping reasonably well, reporting approximately 8.5 hours sleep per night, which was only one hour less than her previous average length of sleep. She was not inclined to suffer nightmares or distress from them when they did occur. Neither of her two diary-recorded dreams contained negative or threatening elements. She was sleeping relatively well, managing to get 8.5 hours of sleep on average per night. She believed that her marriage breakdown had been caused by a combination of factors and maintained a close relationship with her ex-husband, hopeful that they would reconcile. Her close to average score on Ego Strength indicated relative stability and resilience. Her dream content reflected her optimism and hope for a reconciliation, rather than a preoccupation with the difficulties of her separation.
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 169
Negative Adjustment Cases
Case Study 5: Pricilla
Category: Negative adjustment Code: 2085
SEPARATION CIRCUMSTANCES: SUMMARY
Pseudonym: Pricilla Age: 37 Married: 3 yrs Separated: 1.5 mths
Pricilla’s marriage began to suffer when she started to have difficulties with her teenage daughter from a previous relationship. Her daughter moved out to live with her father and Pricilla was extremely worried and hurt. Her husband felt responsible for the difficulties and for her unhappiness. He moved out to make things easier between Pricilla and her daughter. He wanted them to continue to see each other, but Pricilla was too hurt and angry to do so. They tried to patch things up several times, but she could not forgive him for leaving. Nevertheless, they both still admitted that they loved each other and turned to one another for support, but not intimacy, in difficult times. Pricilla observed that her ex-husband seemed to be in a self-destructive mode and was making choices that would result in more unhappiness for him. This hurt her and made her feel sad. She felt as if the joy had drained from her soul and observed that when she looked at herself in the mirror, her eyes didn’t sparkle anymore. She had a sense that she had lost something that she could not replace. She felt no desire for another relationship and found herself comparing everyone to her ex-husband.
Table 5.17
Quantitative Data for Pricilla
Dream Variable Number Threat Variable Percentage Questionnaire Inclusions 4 Threat Dreams 31 Diary Dreams 14 Threat to Self 50 Diary Inclusions 7 Mastered 50
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 170
Table 5.18
Comparison of Pricilla with Diarist Group Overall
Pricilla Diarist Group Overall Variable Score Mean (SD) Range Ego Strength 37 29 (8.50) 6 - 43 Boundary Thickness 31 33.64 (9.31) 19 - 52 Avoidant Coping 8 13.31 (4.74) 8 - 29 Change in Self Rated Adjustment +0 +1.18 (2.33) -6 - +9 Change in Impact of Event +2 -12.74 (19.56) -59 - +22
Table 5.19
Dream Diary Theme Summary for Pricilla
Dream Diary Theme Summary Negative Themes No. Positive Themes No. Loss of Support 2 Sexual and Social Rejection 2 Loss of Control and Disaster 1 Ambivalence About Ex-Spouse 1 Exposure, Vulnerability, and Confusion 1 Conflict with Ex-Spouse 1 Total Negative Themes 10 Total Positive Themes 0 Note: No. = Number of dreams recorded in dream diary containing these themes
Table 5.20
Dream Diary Themes and Examples for Pricilla
Loss of Support Dream example Self-Interpretation The mother of my ex-husband’s eldest son (he’s This dream was very disjointed – it did not flow – 20) rang me and told me that the son had killed but seemed to jump around. When I woke from himself. Then I was at my ex-husband’s door. He this dream, for a few minutes, it felt like a opened the door to let me in as his phone rang. It memory and I felt the grief and cried as if the boy was her telling my ex-husband about the son. We really was dead. It was a few minutes before I Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 171
hugged and cried. Then we were at the funeral (8 realized it was a dream. I think this dream hour drive from where we live). While I was represented my grief of letting go of my ex- there I felt that I was in a bubble and nobody husband’s family as well as himself. His family interacted with me or accepted my support – are very nice people and we got on very well. I which is unusual, as my ex-husband’s family liked felt the loss of these people very strongly in this me very much and were very upset with him for dream. My ex-husband is the youngest of 13 the way we treated me. My ex-husband was a children, (9 of whom are still living and they are total mess – he couldn’t walk and his body very close). seemed almost fluid or soft? But not moving. (He is a large man with a very fit, strong body and this softness of body was distressing – more so than his grief). The boy’s mother was very angry at my ex-husband and felt that her son’s suicide was all his fault. (They have not been together for 19 years).
Social Rejection Dream example Self-Interpretation I was at the YMCA (the ex works there and where I think it showed how I’m dealing with how my I used to work). Everyone (lots of the staff and ‘friends’ (I worked with most of them for almost some of the clients) was out in the garden area. 10 years) have not supported me or shown much Some sort of party was happening. A BBQ I friendship since I left my old job and how ‘my think. It’s a large area but every one was friends’ are still supporting my ex-husband. squashing up together as if there was no room. Blindly without caring about facts of morals. All People were stepping on each other. Some people they care about is looking after ‘their pack’ were sitting on the ground with others leaning whether it’s the ‘right thing to do’ or not. over them. Food was being passed around (and over) people so everyone could get something to eat. People kept calling out to each other to check that they had something to eat. Everyone seemed happy, laughing, smiling. I was not part of the group. I thought they were like sheep.
Loss of Control and Disaster Dream example Self-Interpretation Three young children (approximately 8, 5 & 3), (2 I have no idea. A friend told me it may be a girls, 1 boy) were running through a vacant lot. message from a past life. But I don’t know. The grass was very high. A wire fence (low Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 172
fence) was there and the children were running alongside it. I didn’t recognize any of the children but felt one was me (the eldest). Then we were in a high set house, we were scared. We fell through the floor (I think we slid down the floor) to the garage. Then we were in a car – big station wagon. We were very scared. Someone of something was chasing after us. The girl was trying to start the car but didn’t know how. She could just see over the dashboard. Then the car started and she drove the car through the garage door. The younger children were cheering and very happy but the eldest was still very scared. (I could see the fear in her eyes, I felt she looked straight at me, I felt separate to her now. Not that I was her like before).
Ambivalence About Ex-Spouse Dream example Self-Interpretation My friend and I were on a hill (or mountain). It I think this represents that I want to help my ex- was very barren – rocky – no trees. A man came husband with his issues but can’t. We have talked down the hill to us, he was large (not fat). He was about this (his need for help) many times over the dressed in dark grey. But I can’t remember what last 12 months and we both have a great sadness type of clothes. He had a round face – it was over his inability (or refusal) to get help for these ashen, his hair was disarrayed, he looked like he problems. He has also talked to the friend in the had a three day growth, but it looked like it was dream (who is his boss) about this and they agreed drawn onto his face, his eyes were very sad, dull that he would ask her to help with dealing with his and cloudy. He looked at us with over whelming grief when ready. He has not contacted her for need and sadness, but said nothing. He raised his this. hands with his palms upward.
Vulnerability Dream example Self-Interpretation I was in a field – green grass. There were two Maybe my ex-husband is Pan. He is about the shrubs with small, dark green, glossy leaves. The same height and would often give the same shrubs were either side of a hole in the ground. I arrogant, cheeky “come here little girl” look. went into the hole in the ground and went down Maybe the dream represents that I don’t really the steps. It was dark but I could see where I was want to move away from him. Also maybe it Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 173
going. I was cold and I could smell the dirt. Just represents the loss of the sex and passion before I came to the end of the stairs, I saw a face associated with him, maybe that’s why he’s the – round, male, no hair – the face seemed to come devil. I’m not really sure about what this dream out of the wall, but was not part of the wall and means. was made of flesh not dirt. The face was smug, laughing at me, it said something to me, but I don’t remember what. I didn’t ‘feel anything’ about the face. The stairs ended at a cave, it wasn’t made of stone, but of dirt. I don’t know why the roof didn’t cave in. In the cave were some people, I couldn’t quite make them out or see who they were, but I knew that they were whispering about me. I felt numb – or non emotional. Then in the cave was ‘Pan’ (the devil, not the fire and pitch fork devil), he was half goat/half man, when I saw him, I could smell wet hair. (Goat hair I guess, but I smelt a bit like wet dog hair). He walked over and stood very close to me. He was tall - my head came up to his chest. He stood over me, and looked down at me, his eyes seemed to be saying, “I know who you are”, “I know all about you” and “I know what you want”. He had a very strong aura of arrogance about him. He had a half cheeky smile and seemed to know exactly how uncomfortable I was and he was enjoying every minute of it. He didn’t talk to me at all. I was very uncomfortable. I couldn’t maintain eye contact with him. I felt like a silly young girl, I couldn’t move away from him, and didn’t really want to.
Conflict with Ex-Spouse Dream example Self-Interpretation I was at my friend’s party talking to a guy I met a I am very worried about seeing my ex-husband at few weeks ago (I don’t know him only talked to our friend’s birthday party. I haven’t seem him him for about 10 minutes before). At my friend’s socially for 6 weeks and I’m worried how I will party I was talking to him all evening. When he react as I’m missing him terribly, and he’s starting went to the men’s room, my ex-husband came to make the friendship contact again, and it’s Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 174
over to me and offered me a drink, I said no bothering me. thanks, but he insisted that I take it. I took the drink, poured it into the garden, handed him back the empty glass, thanked him and then walked straight to the bar and bought the same drink for myself, walked back to where he was waiting and ignored him while I drank the drink.
Pricilla: A Summary
Pricilla had suffered significant childhood trauma, including sexual and emotional abuse. This may have contributed to her having relatively thin boundaries. As an adult, she had experienced traumatic relationship breakdown more than once. Pricilla alluded to her ex-husband having some kind of personal “issues”, but did not elaborate, and the reasons for his leaving were not entirely clear in her explanation. Incongruities between some of her dream interpretations and her Circumstances of Separation survey reflected ambivalence about her feelings for him, and this was also apparent in some of the thematic elements of her diary-recorded dreams.
Pricilla was sleeping reasonably well and managing to get approximately 7.5 hours per night, although this was still less than the nine hours she reported was her average sleep length prior to the separation. She recalled three to four dreams per week, and her recall was similar using both the questionnaire and dream diary collection methods. Half of her diary-recorded dreams contained a reference to her ex-husband, indicating preoccupation with her separation. Pricilla did not report a high incidence of nightmares or nightmare distress. However, her diary dreams were overwhelming negative, and contained only negative themes. These dreams contained mainly themes of loss and rejection, which may have been connected to her childhood abuse issues and perhaps, the resurrection of these issues by her difficult marriage and separation experiences. It seemed highly likely that her personal vulnerability had predisposed her to have lower general Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 175
resilience in the face of stressful separation experiences, and that this vulnerability may have contributed to her making a poorer adjustment over time. A third of her dream contained threat, with half of these being self-directed threat. Only half of these self-directed threats were mastered in the dream, perhaps reflecting a certain sense of powerlessness in her waking life. However, her above average score on Ego Strength and slightly thicker than average boundaries indicated resilience and stability. Furthermore, her score on Avoidant Coping indicated that she was disinclined to utilise avoidant coping strategies, a factor that was consistent with her scores on the other personality measures.
Pricilla’ personality scores were consistent with her low incidence of nightmares and nightmare suffering, but inconsistent with her adjustment at follow-up. The negative, and often threatening, content of her dreams seemed to reflect poor follow-up adjustment.
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 176
Case Study 6: Teresa
Category: Negative adjustment Code: 2084
SEPARATION CIRCUMSTANCES: SUMMARY
Pseudonym: Teresa Age: 28 Married: 4 yrs Separated: 3 months
Teresa felt that she had put a lot more into her marriage than what she seemed to get back. Instead of the two of them standing alongside one another, steering their lives in a particular direction, she always felt as if she was the driving force. She felt she needed to keep her husband on the “rails” in order that they could reach their goals. She began to resent the fact that her husband seemed to be gaining from her and yet not giving back a great deal to the relationship. She decided that she wasn’t prepared to live like this forever and called off the marriage. For a while, she was afraid that she might have made the wrong decision. She felt like a failure for not having made a success of their relationship and felt unsure of whether she ought to have persevered with their situation and perhaps waited for him to change. She felt that she was coping quite well after the separation and while she thought it was shame that the marriage had ended, she believed that life must go on. As time went on, Teresa felt she was improving.
Table 5.21
Quantitative Data for Teresa
Dream Variable Number Threat Variable Percentage Questionnaire Inclusions 2 Threat Dreams 29 Diary Dreams 13 Threat to Self 50 Diary Inclusions 11 Mastered 0
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 177
Table 5.22
Comparison of Teresa with Diarist Group Overall
Teresa Diarist Group Overall Variable Score Mean (SD) Range Ego Strength 38 29 (8.50) 6 - 43 Boundary Thickness 46 33.64 (9.31) 19 - 52 Avoidant Coping 12 13.31 (4.74) 8 - 29 Change in Self Rated Adjustment +0 +1.18 (2.33) -6 - +9 Change in Impact of Event +1 -12.74 (19.56) -59 - +22
Table 5.23
Dream Diary Theme Summary for Teresa
Dream Diary Theme Summary Negative Themes No. Positive Themes No. Ambivalence About Ex-Spouse 5 Sexual Attraction and Social Success 1 Loss of Control and Disaster 1 Interpersonal Conflict with Ex-Spouse 1 Total Negative Themes 7 Total Positive Themes 1 Note: No. = Number of dreams recorded in dream diary containing these themes
Table 5.24
Dream Diary Themes and Examples for Teresa
Ambivalence About Ex-Spouse Dream example Self-Interpretation Myself, my ex-husband, and an ex girlfriend of Not sure. At the beginning of our relationship I his were staying in a room together for a reason was a little insecure of his ex. I would ask unbeknown to me. There were 2 double beds. questions, he wouldn’t and didn’t want to answer. My ex-husband was back with his ex, so they She attempted to get him back whilst we were shared a bed and I slept alone. Very strong together which also left me insecure at the time. feelings whilst lying awake that I wanted my ex- Maybe this dream represents . . . I really don’t husband in bed with me and I could feel strongly know! Am I gloating secretly that even though he that he wanted the same. (Oops it’s muddled, isn’t with me, I know he’ll always love me? I sorry). The three of us went for a walk along a hope not! laneway that resembled a market. The Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 178
conversation was strongly biased towards memories that myself and my ex-husband shared. I could feel his ex becoming resentful and a little jealous, yet I didn’t really feel as I was doing anything wrong. My ex-husband and I would look at one another deeply as if we could read each other’s eyes. It brought feelings of sadness and frustration for me, but my ex-husband reminded himself to be conscious that his ex, who was now his girlfriend, was with us.
Loss of Control and Disaster Dream example Self-Interpretation Mum and I were at Stradbroke Island. Mum was Dad is quite dominant in his relationship with driving along an old sandy track in Dad’s old, mum. Mum rebels at times and drinking alcohol strong as an ox, Ute. Ahead was a large, rusty seems to give her more strength to do so. I felt heavy-duty gate that mum was heading for. I like the parent in this dream and felt as though I’d reminded her to slow down and she did, but only have to answer to dad, but on mum’s behalf. slightly and the car smashed straight into the sturdy post that the gate was attached to. The right hand sidelight was all smashed in and at this time I realized we’d both had a few drinks. I told mum to swap places with me and I’d get the car back safely. I was more mad at myself for letting her drive.
Interpersonal Conflict with Ex-Spouse Dream example Self-Interpretation The only recollection I have is that my ex- I called off the relationship and to begin with, my husband appears and states his reasons as to why ex-husband was phoning every few days so as to we should get back together. I disagree and I convince me of all the reasons why we should get immediately notice his attitudes change. He back together. Eventually I asked him to stop becomes abrupt and very blatant towards me and I calling because I want us both to move on. become angry yet saddened by his ways. Any resolutions remain unclear.
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 179
Sexual Attraction and Social Success Dream example Self-Interpretation I was at a school assembly. My boss was teaching Maybe, I feel like a number at my work. a large group of us (my work colleagues) a lesson in morals through drama. We were all sheep (on hands and knees) and he came along individually and asked, “Hi there, what’s going on? Are you up for it? (Sex).” If I (sheep) declined, he’d continue along. If I (sheep) said yes, then off up onto the stage behind the door props. I smiled sweetly and said, “I was eating, and no, I was too busy.”
Teresa: A Summary
Teresa reported that she had experienced childhood adversity, including emotional and psychological abuse. She was married to a man who apparently was unable to contribute equally to the relationship and seemed to end the marriage out of a sense of this inequity. Her Ego Strength score indicated that she was more resilient and robust than average, but her Boundary score showed that she had very thin boundaries, and was thus probably quite sensitive, open and vulnerable. Her use of avoidant coping strategies was close to average. Almost all of her dreams contained negative themes and almost one third of them contained threatening elements. Of the threat dreams, half contained threat directed toward herself, and none of these threats were mastered in the dreams. This was consistent with negative waking experiences. More telling perhaps was the fact that almost all of her diary-recorded dreams contained reference to her ex-spouse, possibly reflecting a waking preoccupation.
Teresa was sleeping reasonably well, with an average reported nightly sleep of eight hours, although she reported that she was sleeping for ten hours on average before her separation. Her dream preoccupation with her ex-spouse reflected considerable waking concerns relating to her separation, and her thin Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 180
boundaries may have indicated sensitivity to being preoccupied with those concerns, both during waking and during dreaming. This preoccupation and sensitivity were consistent with her poor follow-up adjustment. Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 181
Case Study 7: Karen
Category: Negative adjustment Code: 2121
SEPARATION CIRCUMSTANCES: SUMMARY
Pseudonym: Karen Age: 42 Married: 15 yrs Separated: 7 mths
Karen described her marriage as difficult throughout the whole time they were together. She felt emotionally neglected by her husband, and over the years, they became more and more separate. She initiated couple counselling four times but this produced no change. She stopped making an effort to hold the marriage together, and it promptly fell apart. Her ex-husband told her that he was happier apart from her, and felt more in control of his life on his own. From Karen’s perspective, “Except for the incredible pain involved in doing this to the kids, the initial separation was a huge relief from the constant tension and abuse.” In a practical sense, she felt that she and the children did not notice a large difference, since her husband had spent little time with them all before the separation anyway. Karen was finding it difficult to “understand why I can love someone so much and them not love me.” At the time of the study, she was beginning to look forward: “I am looking forward to getting to the place in my life where my ex- husband doesn’t hold number one place in my heart. I am also excited about getting my own place, my own car, and meeting someone who loves me and lets me love them.”
Table 5.25
Quantitative Data for Karen
Dream Variable Number Threat Variable Percentage Questionnaire Inclusions 3 Threat Dreams 50 Diary Dreams 24 Threat to Self 5 Diary Inclusions 12 Mastered 78
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 182
Table 5.26
Comparison of Karen with Diarist Group Overall
Karen Diarist Group Overall Variable Score Mean (SD) Range Ego Strength 36 29 (8.50) 6 - 43 Boundary Thickness 32 33.64 (9.31) 19 - 52 Avoidant Coping 15 13.31 (4.74) 8 - 29 Change in Self Rated Adjustment +1 +1.18 (2.33) -6 - +9 Change in Impact of Event +14 -12.74 (19.56) -59 - +22
Table 5.27
Dream Diary Theme Summary for Karen
Dream Diary Theme Summary Negative Themes No. Positive Themes No. Loss of Control and Disaster 1 Survival 2 Anxiety About Children 5 Sexual Attraction and Social Success 8 Ambivalence About Ex-Spouse 6 Brush With Fame 1 Interpersonal Conflict With Ex-Spouse 1 Exposure, Vulnerability, and Confusion 1 Sexual and Social Rejection & Failure 2 Wedding and Wedding Ring 2 Total Negative Themes 18 Total Positive Themes 11 Note: No. = Number of dreams recorded in dream diary containing these themes
Table 5.28
Dream Diary Themes and Examples for Karen
Loss of Control and Disaster Dream example Self-Interpretation My girlfriend and I had to drive a bus to get home. My girlfriend and I were up late last night after We were both really tired and had had 2 glasses of trying to sort out a rift with another friend. We scotch. She said she couldn’t do it so I had to. It had a scotch together. My ex-husband was very was really scary as I hadn’t driven one before and typically him and my hurt at his lack of care Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 183
I was ‘so’ tired. The streets were in my old towards me and his appearance and lack of true hometown and keeping straight on the road and interest was so familiar in the dream. driving past some policemen was a nightmare. She’d gone to sleep and just before I’d got to my place I was yelling out to her to help me because I knew I was losing my concentration badly. Somehow we ended up parked outside my place, which was also new to me. It was late and my ex- husband came out to say hello. His face was covered in stubble and he was very unattractively dressed and apologized for his bad breath and he kissed me hello (dutifully). I was disgusted and hurt by his appearance. He tried to listen to our story about all that had happened to us, but after a while my girlfriend and I noticed he was gone.
Anxiety About Children Dream example Self-Interpretation Was at a fashion parade. I left to get something to I went to a fashion parade last night. I was upset eat and went to McDonalds. The place was grotty saying goodbye to my youngest as my ex-husband and the girls were using their hands for was angry and moody and driving a long way everything. Thought I was in the line but wasn’t with the kids. He is staying in a friend’s caravan and so ended up at the end again. Left in disgust and is not allowed to have the kids there anymore, and went out into the food court where I ended up so we are back to square one because he refuses to losing my 7 year old son. I was really upset and rent a place. I am anxious about the whole can only remember going to sleep on the floor at situation. the fashion parade, talking to my friend. A guy who was sleeping near me, ended up laying close to me and started touching me. I pretended I was asleep and let him.
Ambivalence About Ex-Spouse Dream example Self-Interpretation Can just remember lying on a bed with my ex- Me missing or trying to understand what I husband talking and kissing and hugging. We like/loved about my ex-husband. Also missing were both fully dressed. Except it wasn’t him, it dad and wanting/needing his input. was his twin brother who had all the nice qualities that I’d loved about my ex-husband. (He doesn’t Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 184
have a twin brother). My dad (who died five years ago and who I adored) was sitting on the end of the bed talking to us and I had a strong sense of approval from him.
Interpersonal Conflict With Ex-Spouse Dream example Self-Interpretation I was in a bedroom with my ex-husband and two Last night when I got home, my ex-husband was other people trying to sleep…I then decided I’d go staying in the house. It is his weekend with the to the toilet and I looked everywhere and couldn’t kids and because he hasn’t got himself a place and find one…Finally I found the toilet and my ex- he thought I was out for the night he decided to husband was on it. He started being his matronly stay here. He started rounding the kids up and self saying well if you want to go I’ll get off and was totally abusive to me calling a fucking witch what you want you’ll get etc and other cruel stuff. and other stuff. My eldest son tried to defend me, I ended up pushing him off the toilet and instead and my ex-husband ended up throwing the kids of using it I pushed him up against the wall and bags out on the driveway and telling us all to fuck started kissing him on the neck and chest and off. The kids were naturally very upset and my telling him to love me, I could tell he liked it and grief was for them. This dream seems to be full of yet he was trying not to and he said he was scared all my mixed emotions of my concern for the kids, to relax in case he enjoyed it. the disruption of my home, feeling desperate, hating my ex-husband but needing him to love me.
Exposure, Vulnerability, and Confusion Dream example Self-Interpretation I was looking through an old house with miniature There seems to be a lot of disappointment in the antique furniture with mum and dad and I only dream. had a bikini on. Dad drove home a different way to usual and I was blown out by the incredible scenery that I saw. Also I was with more friends and my mother was trying to stay in a hotel but no one tells me the exact price it was going to cost. They kept showing me around and giving me lots of other information but not the price. In the end to my and my mothers surprise I told them to fuck off and I walked out and I didn’t feel bad.
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 185
Sexual and Social Rejection and Failure Dream example Self-Interpretation I was being walked home by this guy, who was The second guy seemed a lot like my ex-husband, very nice. After he dropped me off I decided I except that he doesn’t show off or like attention. should try and see who he was and where he lived, but I lost him and when I got to the top of the street some suspicious types came around me. Another guy came along who seemed nice and pretended he was with me and took me with him to the beach. We got along well and he was very attentive. Then some other people came and started teasing him because he was partly paralysed, so he started showing off his surfing abilities, forgetting about me. They cooked some food and fed us as well, but even though the guy showed me a bit of attention he was mostly caught up with proving to them how good he was. I felt hurt and left out. Somehow I got a lift home with some friends and I was standing in mum and dad’s bedroom and dad (who is dead) was talking about how good my sister was at catching balls.
Wedding and Wedding Ring Dream example Self-Interpretation I had bought a box of tomatoes but as I was The ring signifies the marriage breakdown I carrying it out I noticed a bad one. Then another, suppose. then another. I ended up emptying the whole box. A young girl frantically looked for more and finally gave me a couple of home grown ones that were ½ green. She tried to help me balance my stuff but I ended up spilling it all and while picking it up I noticed that my wedding ring had split. It was three different rings soldered together and one ring had come off and it had a blue and yellow stone (mine has diamonds). A lady who was helping said it’s split; you’ll have to get it fixed. I can’t remember if I was sad, but I loved the blue and yellow stones. Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 186
Survival Dream example Self-Interpretation I was riding in a type of helicopter. It was very No interpretation offered. calm and peaceful. There seemed to be no such thing as time. A baby one crashed but ours just kept on flying and as time went by we all got so tired. The captain finally fell asleep but just as he did I felt us land softly.
Sexual Attraction and Social Success Dream example Self-Interpretation Vaguely remember standing with a man and he No interpretation offered. was tracing my face with his fingers telling me how beautiful I was and how much he loved me. I can’t remember the beginning of this dream but I know there was more.
Brush With Fame Dream example Self-Interpretation I was really fast and athletic, jumping fences and No interpretation offered. flipping my body. When I got close to my mothers place I suddenly joined a race that was on and I passed lots of people but just before the finish line I detoured onto some other streets to find mum’s street but instead I came across Princess Di and her bodyguard woman and lots of other official people. I apologized and tried to keep out of their way but I couldn’t find mum’s street. We ended up chatting about different books we’d read and I could tell she was pleased to be having a normal conversation. Finally I excused myself and just tried another street to find mums.
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 187
Karen: A Summary
Despite enduring a loveless marriage characterised by her husband’s lack of respect for her, Karen yearned for his love and attention. Although she wrote of looking forward to a new independent future and the hope for a new love, the overwhelming impression given by Karen was one of neediness and sadness at her husband’s rejection of her. Her anxiety about the effects of her husband’s behaviour and the separation on her children surfaced repeatedly in her dreams, as did her sense of rejection and loss. There was both conflict and ambivalence toward her ex-husband in her dreams, which was completely consistent with the sentiments she was expressing in her waking life. Her scores on the Ego Strength and Boundary Thickness scales indicated that she was both resilient and slightly sensitive and although she was not prone to nightmares, she found them quite distressing.
Karen was sleeping for an average of seven hours per night, which was only on hour less per night than her reported sleep length prior to her separation. Although she scored close to the group average on follow-up self-rated adjustment, her follow-up Impact of Event score indicated that her separation was having a greatly increased impact on her life at follow-up. She was dreaming quite a lot about her ex-husband, reflecting her waking anxieties about his behaviour toward her and their children. Half of her dreams contained threatening elements, but few of these were directed at her, and most that were, tended to be mastered within the dream. Her dream content was consistent with her waking anxieties and concerns, and the fact that she seemed to be “stuck” emotionally in relation to her relationship with her ex-spouse. The relationship between Karen’s dream content and her lack of improvement in terms of depression seemed to be one of reflection and continuity.
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 188
Case Study 8: Maree
Category: Negative adjustment Code: 2001
SEPARATION CIRCUMSTANCES: SUMMARY
Pseudonym: Maree Age: 41 Married: 10 yrs Separated: 9 mths
Maree felt that there was no communication between her and her husband, and for the last six months of their marriage, there was complete silence between them. They had a daughter, and following the separation, they would not even speak when he came over to pick their daughter up. Since the separation, Maree described feeling calmer, but no more happy. She still hoped that she and her ex- husband might reconcile and that he would initiate this. The main difficulties she was experiencing were related to finances and her daughter’s adjustment.
Table 5.29
Quantitative Data for Maree
Dream Variable Number Threat Variable Percentage Questionnaire Inclusions 3 Threat Dreams 33 Diary Dreams 17 Threat to Self 100 Diary Inclusions 15 Mastered 33
Table 5.30
Comparison of Maree with Diarist Group Overall
Maree Diarist Group Overall Variable Score Mean (SD) Range Ego Strength 19 29 (8.50) 6 - 43 Boundary Thickness 28 33.64 (9.31) 19 - 52 Avoidant Coping 12 13.31 (4.74) 8 - 29 Change in Self Rated Adjustment -2 +1.18 (2.33) -6 - +9 Change in Impact of Event +4 -12.74 (19.56) -59 - +22
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 189
Table 5.31
Dream Diary Theme Summary for Maree
Dream Diary Theme Summary Negative Themes No. Positive Themes No. Loss / Being Lost 1 Sexual Attraction and Social Success 1 Ambivalence About Ex-Spouse 3 Interpersonal Conflict With Ex-Spouse 3 Total Negative Themes 7 Total Positive Themes 1 Note: No. = Number of dreams recorded in dream diary containing these themes
Table 5.32
Dream Diary Themes and Examples for Maree
Loss / Being Lost Dream example Self-Interpretation I had nowhere to stay, the house seemed to I think I had worried about the future, the security disappear, just became a vacant block of land, and and about the finance situation. That’s why I I try to talk to my ex-husband about that. He dreamed I had lost the house and had nowhere to suggested I rent a place to live with my daughter; stay with my daughter. he said about something of the banks. Can’t remember the rest of the dream.
Ambivalence About Ex-Spouse Dream example Self-Interpretation I dreamed of making love with my husband, the I guess I still miss my husband very much. But in circumstances just like years ago when our reality I know we won’t get back together. So daughter was little. We try to make love without lately I have dreamed of him almost every night. our daughter noticing what we are doing. It’s funny!
Interpersonal Conflict With Ex-Spouse Dream example Self-Interpretation Having dinner with a group of friend and meet my I found that my ex-husband has difficulty showing ex-husband at the same restaurant. He asks me for his emotions. Sometimes I wonder whether that one of our friends to return the tools the friend could have made us tend to communicate poorly Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 190
borrowed quite a while ago. He showed his anger with each other. The other thing was that I in his face, and I thought that is not like him to refused to accept his silent anger, even though he ask people to return things even though we had did not act violently. Just kept very quiet. I hated broken up. But I realise I always feel his anger it. anyway and he always denies he’s angry.
Sexual Attraction and Social Success Dream example Self-Interpretation A man sat next to me. I found him attractive and I think I’m looking to be loved. Thus I feel good he also liked me too, I think. And we have close especially when someone takes the first step to body touch with each other. I found it felt good show me how he feels about me. and nice. The environment I think was some part of a meeting or lecture or something like that. Cant’ remember. Had a lot of people in there.
Maree: A Summary
Maree described a marriage devoid of connection, destroyed in the end by a silent hostility. She was essentially confused about why the marriage ended, but also about what held them together in the first place. She simultaneously yearned for her husband and accepted the finality of their separation. She remained in a state of sad, but calm acceptance about the loss, and concerned herself about more tangible matters such as finances and her daughter’s wellbeing. Maree scored lower than average on ego strength, but she also had slightly thicker than average boundaries and was less inclined than average dream diarists to utilise avoidant coping.
She reported sleeping for an average six hours per night, which was two hours less than her average reported sleep length prior to the separation. Her dreams reflected her significant ambivalence and anger toward her ex-husband and were more negative than positive. She was troubled with both relatively frequent nightmares and distress relating to them, and she dreamed frequently about her ex-husband, reflecting her ongoing preoccupation with him, and Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 191
yearning for his love. She was not a prolific dreamer, but nearly all of her dreams contained a reference to her ex-husband. Seemingly, her stated waking acceptance of the situation was not her dreaming experience. A third of her dreams contained threatening elements, and all of this threat was directed at her. Her waking powerlessness in relation to her marital situation was reflected in the fact that only one third of the self-directed dream threats was mastered. Although average on initial self-rated adjustment and impact of event, her follow-up scores on both of these variables indicated deterioration. The content of Maree’s dreams was consistent with her waking emotions of sadness, disappointment, emptiness, and loss.
Chapter Discussion
The case study analyses revealed that, in terms of thematic representation, many of the same themes were common across the diary-recorded dreams of both participants who made greater improvements in adjustment over time and those who did not make significant adjustment improvements. Overall, very similar themes occurred across all cases, regardless of adjustment change. The themes of loss, loss of control and disaster, ambivalence about ex-spouse, exposure, anxiety about children, and sexual and social rejection and failure were common negative themes for both types of cases. Positive themes, such as survival, cleaning, repair, and sexual attraction and social success, also occurred frequently across both sets of cases.
The data regarding the circumstances of separation were, of course, completely unique for each case. As the summaries of this data showed, reports of both traumatic childhood experiences and difficult separation experiences tended to occur more commonly amongst the Least Improved group, which may have meant that the less adjusted participants were more vulnerable and less resilient in times of stress.
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 192
In the case study analyses, there was a relationship between dream recall and boundary thickness, with thinner boundaries characterising those with higher recall and more inclusions of the ex-spouse. However, this was only apparent in the positive adjustment group. The negative adjustment group tended to have slightly higher diary recall overall and a clear tendency to have more inclusions of the stressor in their diary-recorded dreams. Past research has found that people with thin boundaries tend to pay more attention to their dreams, have higher dream recall, attach more meaning to their dreams, and relive the details of dreams and nightmares (Pietrowsky & Köthe, 2003; Schredl, Schafer, Hofmann & Jacob, 1999). Past research has also found that people with thicker boundaries tend to have lower dream recall (Barbuto & Plummer, 2000; Hartmann, 1997; Hartmann, 2000; Schredl, Ciric, Gotz & Wittmann, 2003). The observations from the case study analyses indicated that this was only the case with individuals who had made a positive adjustment over time, while those who made a negative adjustment seemed to have higher recall and inclusions regardless of their boundary scores. This was consistent with the findings of Koulack, Prevost, and De Koninck (1985) who also found an association between high recall of dreams of stressful events and poor subsequent adaptation to the events.
In the case study analyses, the relationship between adjustment improvement and personality factors did not follow any recognisable pattern. Individuals with high and low ego strength characterised both the negative and positive adjustment groups. Kaminer and Lavie (1991, 1993) had found that holocaust survivors who had stronger ego forces were more repressive and better adjusted than those who had low ego strength. Their research suggested that survivors who adjusted better actually dreamed less; not only less about the trauma, but also less in general (Kaminer & Lavie, 1991,1993; Lavie & Kaminer, 1996). The findings of the case study analyses were consistent with this finding, in that individuals in the negative adjustment group clearly did dream more about their stressor than individuals in the positive adjustment group.
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 193
Factors that have been found to influence how well and how quickly an individual will recover from the effects of a stressful or traumatic life event such as a marital separation include such things as levels of social support, relationship quality, employment opportunities, financial support, and conflict (Demo & Acock, 1996; Gray & Silver, 1990). The results of the case analyses were consistent with these findings in that they seemed to indicate that personal autobiographical experiences and separation circumstances might have been influential factors in the adjustment of individuals over time. Two of the negative adjustment cases and one of the positive adjustment cases had experienced childhood abuse. This was consistent with the findings of previous studies (e.g., Amato, 2000; Wang & Amato, 2000) and added another dimension to the complex overall picture of the adjustment process.
Dream themes and content reflected personal preoccupations and separation and childhood experiences, but not the level of adjustment change in particular individuals. All but one of the eight case study participants recorded more dreams with negative than positive themes, showing no particular differences between Least and Most Improved individuals. This finding was again consistent with the notion that dreams are reflective of waking preoccupations rather than the direction of adjustment change.
Several observations of the case study analyses were consistent with the continuity theory of dreaming (e.g., Domhoff, 1996; Hall, 1969; Hall & Van de Castle, 1966). As would be predicted by this theory, the dreams of individuals who made poorer adjustment over time dreamed more often about their ex-spouse. The adaptive theories of dream function (e.g., Barrett, 1993; Cartwright & Lamberg, 1992) would have predicted that individuals who made better adjustment over time would dream more often of their ex-spouse. The findings of this study suggested that the opposite was the case. The findings were not supportive of Revonsuo’s (2000) theory of threat rehearsal either, since those individuals who were rehearsing threats the most in their dreams were not necessarily the ones who were making the best adjustments over time. Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 194
CHAPTER SIX: STUDY FOUR
RATIONALE, METHODOLOGY, AND RESULTS
Chapter Contents Rationale for Study Four Method Participants Materials Questionnaires and Dream Diaries Dream Content Inclusions of Ex-Partner Apparatus REMview Sleep Assessment Device REM Latency Mini-Disc Recorder Procedure Questionnaires and Dream Diaries Sleep Laboratory Procedure Preparation Set-Up REM Awakenings and Dream Data Collection Morning Procedure Results Data Cleaning and Screening Dream Recall By Questionnaire, Diary, and Laboratory Awakening Inclusion Recall by Questionnaire, Diary, and Laboratory Awakening Adjustment Over Time Correlations Between Inclusions and Adjustment Relationship Between REM Latency and Adjustment Differences Between Incorporators and Non-Incorporators Differences Between Remitters and Non-Remitters Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 195
Chapter Discussion Influence of Methodology on Recall Dream Content as a Characteristic of Individuals’ Adjustment Remission From Depression The Importance of REM Latency in Relation to Adjustment Summary and Conclusions
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 196
Rationale for Study Four
Study 1 found that questionnaire-reported inclusions of the ex-spouse or separation in separated people’s dreams predicted concurrent adjustment on only one adjustment measure, self-rated adjustment. Study 2 found that diary-recorded inclusions did not significantly predict initial adjustment at all. In Study 1, the personality variables, ego strength and avoidant coping style, were found to predict initial adjustment more reliably. Although questionnaire–reported dreams of the stressor did, to some degree predict adjustment over time in Study 1, most of the variance in adjustment over time was in fact accounted for by initial adjustment. However, when regression analyses were conducted in Study 2, using diary-recorded dream incorporations of the stressor, these incorporations were found to account for a significant amount of unique variance in adjustment over time. Inconsistent with the findings of Cartwright (1991), both studies found that dreams of the stressor, whether questionnaire-reported or diary-recorded, did not predict levels of depression follow-up in either depressed or non-depressed separated participants. Study 2 confirmed the finding of an association between stressor incorporation in dream content and poor adjustment, a finding that was inconsistent with the emotional adaptation theories of dream function.
These findings did not support the emotional adjustment theories of dream function, which would have predicted that, since dreams are supposed to function to help us process emotional material, dream incorporations of the stressor ought to have predicted better adjustment at follow-up. Nor did the findings support the threat rehearsal theory, which would have predicted that threatening dream content would be associated with better follow-up adjustment. The findings were more consistent with the continuity theory, which would have predicted a correlation between dream incorporations, personality, and poor initial adjustment.
The stronger findings in Study 2, with regard to the prediction of adjustment from dream incorporations of the stressor suggested that inclusions Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 197
recorded in dream diaries may be more reliable and sensitive predictors than questionnaire-reported inclusions. This explanation was thought to fit with a possible overestimate of inclusions in questionnaire reporting. Study 4 was designed to further explore the influence of the methodology by which dream data were collected, on the relationship between dream incorporations and adjustment. If diary-recorded dream data were more sensitive, then REM sleep awakenings (such as used by Cartwright, 1991) might be more sensitive, and might reveal a stronger or different effect. Study 1 utilised the questionnaire method as a means of gathering information about participants’ dream content. Participants were asked to estimate how many times they had dreamed of their ex-spouse or their marital separation in the week prior to completing the questionnaire. Study 2 utilised the dream diary method, and recorded the dreams they could recall upon awakening each morning for four weeks. By contrast, Cartwright (1991) had her participants sleep for one night in a sleep laboratory, connected to an EEG machine. She woke them during each REM period and recorded their dream reports.
Some dream theorists (e.g. Greenberg et al., 1970; Kramer, 1993) have suggested that spontaneously recalled dreams may, in fact, represent the dreams that have been interrupted in performing their intended function. If this were the case, it should be expected that there would be a discrepancy between dream content collected in a way that relied on recall measures and that collected during REM awakenings, in relation to adjustment outcomes. Thus, it was proposed that in Study 4, relevant data would be collected in a similar way as in Studies 1 and 2, with the clear exception being that the dream content was also collected through REM awakenings in a sleep laboratory.
The key research question to be answered by this study was whether the findings of Study 4 would differ depending on how dream data were gathered? The hypothesis was that the results would be consistent, whether dream content was collected via questionnaire, dream diary or laboratory REM-awakenings, although it was acknowledged that recall involved in the different methodologies Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 198
might result in some variation. Further, it was hypothesised that dream inclusions of the stressor, collected by all three methods, would predict poorer rather than better adjustment. Such a finding would support the cognitive theories of dreaming, as the findings of Studies 1 and 2 had done, and be inconsistent with the functional theories of dreams.
An important subsidiary question was that of whether the results would be consistent with Cartwright’s (1991) finding that dream incorporation of the ex- spouse, gathered during REM awakenings, predicted remission of depression in depressed separated participants. A finding that dream incorporation of the stressor, in dreams collected from REM awakenings, significantly predicted remission in depression over time would be consistent with Cartwright’s finding.
Method
Participants
Nineteen participants were recruited through newspaper advertisements and spontaneous response to media publicity about the research project. Participants were sought on the basis that they must have experienced a marital separation in the past 16 weeks, must be currently taking no regular sedative medication, must not be known to suffer from any sleep disorder, and must be available to spend one night in the sleep laboratory during the two month period over which Study 4 was conducted.
One participant was unable to sleep at all during the night in the laboratory, and was unavailable for a repeat study, so her data were excluded from the study. The remaining 18 participants were aged between 25 and 62 years (M = 43, SD = 11). Two were male and 16 were female. Prior to their recent separation, the participants had been married for an average of 18.39 years (SD = 11.66), with a range of two to 38 years. They had been separated for between two and 16 weeks (M = 7.83, SD = 4.05). Since the study involved a two-month follow-up period, the participants were effectively monitored until a point between 2.5 and 6 Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 199
months post separation. The divorce literature suggests that it generally takes from two to seven years for divorcees to adjust to their marriage breakdown and move on (Blattner & Jacobson, 1993), so the period of time at which these participants were observed would certainly be considered an early phase in the process.
Materials
Questionnaires and Dream Diaries
The dream diary was semi-structured and set out exactly as it was in Study Two. The questionnaire included the same scales that were used in Study One. As in Study 1, four types of adjustment were assessed: satisfaction with life, depression, self-rated adjustment, and impact of (separation) event. The same scales were used as had been previously used in Study 1.
Dream Content
Inclusions of Ex-Partner. In the questionnaires, participants were asked to indicate how many dreams they had had in the past week, in which their ex- spouse/separation was included. In the dream diaries, they were asked to indicate inclusions of their ex-partner with an asterisk. During their single night in the sleep laboratory, participants were awakened during each REM period, after 10 minutes, and dream content was gathered and recorded as outlined below. From each of these recordings, the number of inclusions of ex-spouse or separation were determined and recorded.
Apparatus
REMview Sleep Assessment Device
The Respironics REMview is a small, U.S. manufactured, battery-operated device that can be used to collect sleep data during sleep sessions in a laboratory environment (see Figure 6.1). It uses a small flexible sensor to detect eyelid Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 200
movements, and when the sensor is stimulated, a voltage is generated. This voltage changes, in response to vibration, eye movement, or eyelid tremor. There is also a sensor attached to a headband, which detects rotational head movements during the sleep session. The headband helps to maintain the position of both sensors during the night. The REMview records the parameters needed to quantify sleep architecture, and is able to provide information about sleep states, sleep latency, and REM latency. The data collected by the REMview recorder was transferred to a Pentium III desktop computer in the adjacent room. Data were transferred to the REMview Host Software program on the computer, via a serial communications port. The host software program was used to analyse and display the data throughout the night. The data were used to determine the periods when the participant was awake and asleep, and to distinguish REM sleep from non- REM sleep.
Figure 6.1. Nightcap REMview Apparatus
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 201
REM Latency. REM latency is the time that elapses between going to sleep and entering the first REM period of the night. In this study, REM latency was recorded by the REMview Sleep Assessment Device and determined by the REMview host software.
Mini-Disc Recorder
A Marantz Professional portable MiniDisc Recorder (Model PMD650) was used to digitally record participants’ reports of their dream content in the sleep laboratory. The recorder was connected to 240-volt mains power, via a 74 DA600/02B AC adaptor. Recordings were taken using a Shure 16A external condenser microphone, which allowed for high quality, sensitive recording.
Procedure
Questionnaires and Dream Diaries
Questionnaires and dream diaries were mailed out to the participants along with informed consent packages. Participants were asked to complete the questionnaires and to keep a dream diary for one week, and then to bring these with them to the sleep laboratory on their nominated observation night. Two months after the first data collection, participants were posted a shorter questionnaire, containing only the wellbeing and adjustment measures. They were asked to complete these and return them by mail, in the stamped, addressed envelopes that were provided.
Sleep Laboratory Procedure
Preparation. The participants were asked to each spend a single night in the sleep laboratory. Each participant spent one complete night in the sleep laboratory, from 8pm until 7am. The air-conditioned room in which they slept was very similar to a home bedroom, with a comfortable single bed, quilt and bedside Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 202
lamp (see Figure 6.2). Participants were advised in advance that they should try to not have any late nights in the few days prior to their observation night. They were asked to arrive around 8pm, to be prepared for the study. On their arrival, the researcher explained in detail what was involved and answered any questions that participants had. They were permitted to watch television or read until they were ready to retire. Participants all retired between 7.54pm and 11.31pm.
Figure 6.2. Sleep Laboratory: Participants’ Sleeping Room
Set-Up. Once participants indicated that they were ready to settle for the night, the REMview sensors were attached to their right eyelid and to their forehead, via a soft headband. The REMview sensors relayed signals to the REMview unit, which was connected to a computer in an adjacent room. The researcher was able to monitor eye and head movements on the computer screen throughout the night (see Figure 6.3), and thus, ascertain when the participants were experiencing rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.
REM Awakenings and Dream Data Collection. The researcher monitored the participant’s eye movement activity and head movement activity throughout Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 203
the night. Once the REMview tracings on the monitor indicated that participants had entered a period of REM sleep, the researcher waited for 10 minutes of REM sleep to elapse and then awakened them. While some previous research has used the procedure of waking participants at the end of every REM period (e.g., Meier, Ruef, Ziegler & Hall, 1968), other studies have used a procedure of waking participants between five and fifteen minutes after the onset of each REM sleep period (e.g., Baekeland & Lasky, 1968; Cohen & Cox, 1975; Fiss, 1991; Fosse, Stickgold & Hobson, 2001; Trinder & Kramer, 1971). Still other studies (e.g., Cartwright, 1991; Koulack, Prevost & De Koninck, 1985) have used the procedure of waking participants five to eight minutes into the first REM period, 10 minutes after the onset of the second REM period, 12 to 15 minutes after the onset of REM 3, and 14 to 20 minutes after the onset of REM 4. The current study used the most common procedure of waking participants 10 minutes after the onset of each REM sleep period.
When participants were woken from REM sleep, they were asked to describe in detail what was passing through their minds prior to being woken. What they described was recorded with a mini-disc recorder. Participants were then allowed to resume sleeping. Most participants experienced four to six REM periods during the night, and thus, were woken approximately four to six times during their night in the sleep laboratory. Participants were able to go to the toilet during the night if they needed to (after the researcher disconnected the leads to the REMview unit).
Morning Procedure. In the morning, participants were woken at 6 am. They were then provided with a continental breakfast, and were able to leave as soon after this as they wished. Participants were debriefed in the morning about their participation and any issues that may have been raised by it were discussed.
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 204
Figure 6.3. Sleep Laboratory: Observation Room
Results
Data Cleaning and Screening
Scores on each scale were examined for univariate outliers, using visual inspections of distribution histograms and stem-and-leaf plots. Nightmare frequency was influenced by two outlier scores (respondents reported experiencing 80 and 100 nightmares per year), but these scores were not removed from the analyses, because doing so altered the significance of results in the correlational analyses involving this variable.
Dream Recall By Questionnaire, Diary, and Laboratory Awakening
Questionnaire responses indicated that participants estimated having an average of 4.66 (SD = 3.12) dreams per week. This was a slight increase from the Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 205
average 3.97 (SD = 2.72) dreams that they estimated recalling per week, prior to their separation. It was also a slight underestimate compared to the mean of 6.16 (SD = 4.68) dreams recorded in the one-week dream diaries. The average number of dreams recalled during the single night of REM awakenings in the laboratory was 3.33 (SD = 1.45), which would extrapolate to approximately 23 dreams over a one-week period. Participants recalled a dream, on average, 72% of the time when awakened from REM sleep, which is around what would be expected, based on previous research.
Inclusion Recall By Questionnaire, Diary, and Laboratory Awakening
According to their responses on the Questionnaire measure, participants recalled an average of 1.67 dreams (SD = 1.37) that were related to their ex- spouse or separation, in the previous week. The diary method produced similar levels of recall, with an average of 1.61 dreams containing inclusions (SD = 1.50), recalled in the single week of recording. In the single night of laboratory recordings, taken from REM awakenings, participants recalled an average of .72 (SD = .75) dreams that contained inclusions, which could be extrapolated to 5.04 inclusions over a one-week period. As shown in Table 6.1, the questionnaire method resulted in a higher proportion of inclusions, relative to overall dream recall, than either the dream diary or REM awakening method.
Table 6.1
Mean Dream Recall and Recall of Inclusions x Dream Collection Method (n=18) Dreams Inclusions % Inclusions Recalled Recalled in Dreams M SD M SD
Questionnaire (1 week) 4.66 3.12 1.67 1.37 36 Dream Diary (1 week) 6.16 4.68 1.61 1.50 26 REM Awakening (1 night) 3.33 1.45 .72 .75 22 REM Awakening (Extrapolated to 1 week) 23 5.04 22 Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 206
Adjustment Over Time
Over a two-month period, participants improved significantly on all measures of adjustment, (as shown in Table 6.2). This confirmed that two months was a long enough period over which to measure change in the adjustment of these newly separated participants.
Table 6.2
Means and Standard Deviations for Initial and Two-Month Follow-up Measures of Adjustment, and t values for differences between Means (n=18)
Initial Two-Month Follow-up Variables M SD M SD t
Self-Rated Adjustment 4.11 2.27 6.11 2.76 -3.37*** Impact of Event 42.39 22.49 36.00 22.60 2.43* Depression 19.28 9.32 14.78 10.64 2.53* Life Satisfaction 17.22 8.71 20.72 8.44 -3.11**
Note: Statistically significant at *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .005
Correlations Between Inclusions and Adjustment
As shown in Table 6.3, correlational analyses revealed significant relationships between adjustment on some adjustment measures, initially and at follow-up, and the number of dreams that included references to the ex-spouse or separation, and this was the case with inclusions that were recalled by questionnaire measure, dream diary, and REM awakenings in the laboratory. The direction of these relationships revealed an association between more inclusions of ex-spouse and poorer adjustment. No one method of collecting dream data resulted in stronger or more consistent correlations, between dream inclusions and initial adjustment or follow-up adjustment, over any other. Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 207
Table 6.3
Correlations between Dream Inclusions of Ex-Spouse or Separation (Measured by Questionnaire, Dream Diary, and REM Awakenings), REM Latency, Nightmare Frequency and Distress, and Adjustment (n=18)
Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
1. Incl. Ex /Sep (Q’aire) 1 2. Incl. Ex /Sep (Diary) .390 3. Incl. Ex /Sep (REM Awak.) .646** .316 4. REM Latency -.501 -.555 -.601* 5. Nightmare Frequency .521 .710** .521 -.569 6. Nightmare Distress .519 .293 .638** -.435 .465 7. Satisf. With Life Time 1 -.525 -.610* -.520 .543 -.628* -.648** 8. Depression Time 1 .624* .517 .515 -.363 .697** .750*** .767*** 9. Self-Rated Adjustment Time 1 -.214 -.245 -.360 .352 -.655** -.565 .430 -.487 10. Impact of Event Time 1 .552 .470 .525 -.507 .582 .545 -.894*** .642** -.384 11. Satisf. With Life Time 2 -.491 -.719** -.606* .596* -.704** -.428 .845*** -.678** .382 -.773*** 12. Depression Time 2 .522 .414 .448 -.464 .522 .655** -.900*** .722** -.505 .874*** -.760*** 13. Self-Rated Adjust. Time 2 -.548 -.514 -.664** .704** -.619* -.568 .884*** -.572 .513 -.877*** .824*** -.817*** 14. Impact of Event Time 2 .615* .496 .464 -.581 .492 -.355 -.815*** .474 -.298 .878*** -.717** .756*** -.878***
Note: Statistically significant at *p < .01, **p < .005, ***p < .001
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 208
Relationship Between REM Latency and Adjustment
As shown in Table 6.3, there was a positive relationship between latency to REM sleep and two measures of adjustment, at follow-up but not initially, self-rated adjustment and satisfaction with life. The more quickly participants tended to enter REM sleep, after going to sleep, the more likely that they were experiencing poorer adjustment, particularly at follow-up. Correlations between REM latency and both nightmare frequency and nightmare distress were not significant.
Differences Between Incorporators and Non-Incorporators
Of the 18 participants, 10 reported having at least one dream during their night in the sleep laboratory that incorporated their ex-spouse, while eight did not. The incorporators were compared to the non-incorporators on all of the other relevant variables. The incorporators differed significantly from the non-incorporators only on REM latency. Incorporators entered REM sleep much sooner after falling asleep (M = 43.50 minutes, SD = 24.40 minutes) than non-incorporators (M = 107.37 minutes, SD = 57.33 minutes). As shown in Table 6.4, incorporators did not differ significantly from non-incorporators on adjustment at any time point. Although there was a trend for incorporators to have more nightmares, nightmare distress, and thinner boundaries than non-incorporators, none of these differences were statistically significant.
Differences Between Remitters and Non-Remitters
Using the same recommended cut-offs for the Depression subscale of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales (DASS) that was used in Study 1, three of the Study 4 participants were found to be non-depressed (Initial Depression score M = 3.67, SD = 2.52) and 15 were found to be depressed (Initial Depression score M = 22.40, SD = 6.48) at initial testing. Of the 15 initially depressed individuals, follow-up scores revealed that five had experienced a remission from depression by the two-month Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 209
Table 6.4
Differences Between Incorporators and Non-Incorporators
Incorporators (N=10) Non-Incorporators (N=8) Variables M (SD) M (SD) t Sig (2-tailed)
Nightmare Frequency 37.20 (33.35) 8.87 (8.93) -2.32 .034 Nightmare Distress 26.30 (15.30) 16.00 (4.00) -1.84 .084 Dreams per Week (Q’aire) 5.40 (3.22) 3.75 (2.91) -1.12 .277 Number of Diary Dreams 6.80 (4.31) 5.37 (5.29) -.63 .537 No. of REM Awakening Dreams 3.50 (1.78) 3.12 (.99) -.53 .602 REM Latency 43.50 (24.40) 107.37 (57.33) 3.20* .006 Ego Strength 27.20 (9.60) 27.50 (5.50) .08 .938 Boundary Thickness 27.30 (15.83) 19.87 (12.33) -1.09 .293
Note: Statistically significant at *p < .01, **p < .005, ***p < .001
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 210
Table 6.5
Differences Between Remitters and Non-Remitters
Remitters (N=5) Non-Remitters (N=10) Variables M (SD) M (SD) t Sig (2-tailed)
Hours of Sleep per Night 8.00 (.35) 6.70 (.67) 3.99** .002 Nightmare Frequency 13.80 (11.05) 37.00 (33.16) -1.50 .158 Nightmare Distress 18.60 (4.83) 27.30 (13.31) -1.39 .187 Questionnaire Inclusions 1.60 (1.67) 2.00 (1.33) -.50 .622 Diary Inclusions 1.40 (1.67) 2.10 (1.45) -.84 .416 REM Awakening Inclusions .40 (.55) .90 (.87) -1.16 .268 REM Latency 106.40 (48.20) 52.70 (50.30) 1.97 .070 Ego Strength 30.00 (7.52) 24.40 (6.67) 1.47 .165 Boundary Thickness 17.80 (10.13) 31.80 (12.53) -2.16 .050 Mastered Threat Dreams (%) 90.00 (22.36) 33.28 (47.14) 2.47 .033
Note: Statistically significant at *p < .01, **p < .005, ***p < .001 Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 211
follow-up point; while 10 remained depressed. Those whose depression had remitted were compared with those whose depression had not remitted, using a series of independent groups t-tests. Because the numbers of individuals in these two groups were so small, these findings must be regarded cautiously. As shown in Table 6.5, the only significant difference between remitters and non-remitters was that remitters reported sleeping for an average of over one hour longer per night than the non- remitters. The two groups did not differ significantly on how many dreams they reported that included their ex-spouse or separation, whether these reports were collected by questionnaire, dream diary, or laboratory awakenings. Although not significant at the .01 probability level, there was a clear trend for the remitters to master more of the self-directed threats in their dreams than the non-remitters, and for remitters to have longer REM latencies than non-remitters.
Chapter Discussion
Influence of Methodology on Recall
REM awakenings in the overnight sleep laboratory setting yielded more dream recall per night than the questionnaire (about six times) or diary method (about five times). The questionnaire method resulted in a slight underestimate of dream recall, compared to dream diary recording. In addition, the recall of salient dream content, which was dreams of the ex-spouse or separation, was higher in proportion to overall dream recall when the questionnaire method was used. While the proportion of dreams containing salient content was similar for diary-recorded dreams as for dreams gathered from REM awakenings, questionnaire-recalled dreams contained a greater proportion of salient content, relative to the number of dreams recalled. Thus, on questionnaires, while separated individuals spontaneously recalled only about one sixth of their dreams, they were more likely to remember and report the dreams containing salient content than those that contained other elements. This suggests, as did the findings of Study 2, that the questionnaire method may lead to an overestimate of salient dream content, compared to the diary or REM awakening methods. Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 212
Dream Content as a Characteristic of Individuals’ Adjustment
As had been found in Study 1, participants who demonstrated better adjustment tended to recall fewer dreams about their ex-spouses. This study was able to investigate whether this finding was due to the methodology used to measure dream recall, or whether this level of recall truly reflected the number of dreams containing this salient content. What the results revealed was that separated people were more likely to overestimate the number of dreams containing references to their ex-spouses and separations, when completing a questionnaire, than when completing a more objective measure such as a dream diary, or being woken from REM sleep in a laboratory. However, regardless of the method of dream data collection used, there remained a significant relationship between better adjustment and fewer dreams relating to participants’ stressor. Consistent with the findings of Study 1, those with the most distress were the same ones who were dreaming excessively about their ex-spouses. Consistent with the continuity theory of dream content, their daytime preoccupation with their situation seemed to be spilling over into their dream life. As with the findings of Studies 1 and 2, the findings of Study 4 did not support functional theories of dreaming, including the emotional problem-solving theories of dreaming.
Remission from Depression
In the same way that Cartwright (1991) compared depressed participants whose depression had remitted with those who remained depressed, this study compared these two groups on several sleep and dream factors. It must be admitted that a different depression scale was used in this study from that used by Cartwright, and the number of participants was relatively small. Nevertheless, remitters were not found here to differ from non-remitters in terms of how much they reported dreaming about their ex-spouses or separations, and this finding did not alter across the three dream data collection methods. This finding was not consistent with Cartwright’s (1991) findings of a difference between the extent of dream incorporations of the ex-spouse, in those remitting from depression compared to those not remitting. The current study did, Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 213
however, indicate that remitters were getting significantly more nightly sleep than non- remitters and that remitters tended to take longer to enter REM sleep, than those who remained depressed at follow-up. These findings suggest more sleep disturbance and pressure for REM in non-remitters, which in some way interferes with (or refects an interference with) recovery, possibly by reducing effective processing of emotional material. The finding of a relationship between REM latency and remission from depression is consistent with many earlier studies (e.g., Agargun & Cartwright, 2003; Benca, Obermeyer, Thisted & Gillin, 1992; Benca, 2000; Buysse et al., 2001). There was also a trend for remitters’ threat dreams to be different from those of non-remitters, in that when the threat was directed at the self, remitters tended to be more likely to master those threats within the dreams. This is an interesting finding, particularly bearing in mind that there were no apparent personality differences between the two groups. This finding is suggestive of an association between particular types of dream content and adjustment, although the association is not necessarily causal.
The Importance of REM Latency in Relation to Adjustment
Shorter REM latency was found to be significantly correlated with poorer levels of adjustment, particularly at follow-up. The more quickly that participants tended to enter REM sleep, after going to sleep, the more likely that they were less adjusted at each time point. Furthermore, participants who reported dreams incorporating their ex- spouse when awakened from REM sleep in the laboratory were found to enter REM sleep as much as an hour sooner than those who did not report dreams with this kind of content.
These findings are consistent with previous research, which has found that REM latency is shorter in individuals suffering from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (Adrien, 2000; Agargun & Cartwright, 2003; Benca, Obermeyer, Thisted & Gillin, 1992; Cartwright, Luten, Young, Mercer & Bears, 1998; Gillin, 2000; Kupfer & Ehlers, 1989; Mellman, Nolan, Hebding, Kulick-Bell & Dominguez, 1997; Spiker, Coble, Cofsky, Foster & Kupfer, 1978; Vogel, Buffenstein, Mintner & Hennessey, 1990). Two potential explanations for such a finding could be considered. One is that Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 214
increased emotional turmoil and distress creates an increased pressure for REM sleep, perhaps because there is a raised demand for the emotional processing that may take place during this phase of sleep. An alternative explanation is that shorter REM latency is indicative of a pathological process occurring as a result of (or indirectly producing) a state of distress. Perhaps the functions of REM sleep are less efficient in such states, thereby increasing the need for time required in REM sleep. Pathological processes, however triggered, may result in altered brain chemistry, leading to both depression and REM sleep disturbances. There is good evidence that this is the case, with studies having shown that the REM-off 5-HT neurons that regulate REM sleep are likely to be involved in endogenous depression (Adrien, 2000). These neurons do not discharge during REM sleep, and depressed patients’ increased propensity for REM sleep is thought to be associated with lowered 5-HT neurotransmission (Adrien, 2000; Hobson, McCarley & Wyzinki, 1975). Indeed, REM sleep deprivation has been shown to have an antidepressant effect in a majority of patients with endogenous depression (Wu & Bunney, 1990).
Summary and Conclusions
Study 4 allowed for dream recall and dream content to be measured in three different ways, in turn allowing for comparison of data gathered using the different methodologies. It was important to ensure that the findings of Study 1, which were influenced by a reliance on individuals’ recall of their dream content, were not too dissimilar to the findings of Study 4, which evaluated dream content using questionnaires, diaries, and REM awakenings. The findings of Study 4 were consistent with those of Study 1, confirming that dreams of the ex-spouse were not related to positive adjustment. Furthermore, the findings of this study showed that this negative result was not due to better-adjusting individuals forgetting the dreams that related to their situation. In fact, participants were more likely to overestimate the number of dream inclusions when completing a questionnaire about their dreams than when completing a dream diary or being awakened from REM sleep.
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 215
Importantly, Study 4 highlighted the significance of REM latency, and showed a relationship between poor adjustment and shorter REM latency. The tendency for those who incorporated their stressors into their dreams to have shorter REM latencies than those who did not supported the idea that both REM disturbance (possibly an increased pressure for REM sleep) and incorporation of stressors in dreams are symptomatic of emotional distress and preoccupation. This finding, combined with lack of a significant relationship between REM latency and nightmare frequency or distress, and the lack of positive relationship between dream inclusions and adjustment, supported the theory that dreams have no independent function, but are epiphenomenal to REM sleep. Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 216
CHAPTER SEVEN: DISCUSSION
Chapter Contents
Summary of Major Findings Relationship Between Dreams, Personality and Adjustment Differences Between Married and Separated Participants The Influence of Dream Data Collection Techniques Sleep Loss Nightmare Frequency and Distress Case Study Data, Situational Factors and Adjustment Strengths and Limitations of the Research Future Research Directions Implications of the Research for Theory The Healing Effect of Time – A Function of REM Sleep? Clinical Implications of the Research Therapeutic Value of Dream Diary Keeping What Dream Content May Reveal About Adjustment Significance of Shortened REM Latency Chapter Discussion Summary
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 217
Summary of Major Findings
The central aim of this series of studies was to test the hypothesis that dreams serve an emotional adjustment or problem-solving function (e.g., Breger, 1967; Cartwright and Lamberg, 1992; French and Fromm, 1964; Greenberg et al., 1970; Hartmann, 1995, 1996a, 1998a; Jones, 1962; Kramer, 1991, 1993) and the alternative hypothesis that dreams reflect the current waking concerns of the dreamer without serving any particular function (Blagrove, 1992a, 2000; Domhoff, 1996, 2001a; Hall & Nordby, 1972).
These hypotheses were examined in the context of adjustment to marital separation. Emotional adjustment theories predicted that dreaming of the stressor (in this case, the ex-spouse or separation) would be found to be adaptive, and positively related to follow-up adjustment. Such a finding would have been consistent with the results of Cartwright’s (1991) study, which found that depressed divorcees who dreamed of their ex-spouse were less depressed a year later. However, the current series of studies consistently found a negative relationship between dreams of the ex-spouse / separation and adjustment. Participants who experienced the most frequent dreams about their ex-spouse/separation were, at each time point that they were observed, the ones who were demonstrating the poorest levels of adjustment to their situation. This was also the case with regard to the prediction of follow-up adjustment, with more dreams of the stressor predicting poorer adjustment. Moreover, it was found that the negative relationship between dreams of ex-spouse / separation and follow-up adjustment was best explained by the correlation between initial and follow-up adjustment.
Using different methodology, Study 1 failed to find consistency with Cartwright’s (1991) findings that dreams of ex-spouse / separation predicted remission of depression in depressed separated individuals. Incorporation of the stressor was not found to predict change in levels of depression, in either depressed or non-depressed participants. Using a methodology that was similar to that used by Cartwright, Study 4 Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 218
also failed to find a difference between depressed individuals who remitted and those who didn’t, in terms of their level of stressor incorporation.
These findings therefore provided little support for some aspects of emotional adjustment theories of dream function, namely that incorporation of the stressor is related to improved adjustment. The findings do seem to cast doubt on the possibility that dream incorporation of the stressor, per se, results in the direct solving of emotional problems. However, it is acknowledged that the aspect of emotional adjustment theories that suggests continuity between waking concerns and dream incorporation of those concerns, is entirely consistent with these findings. It seems more likely that particular types of dreams, such as those where the dreamer is more empowered, may be more reflective of their waking sense of wellbeing. Nevertheless, the results are better, and more parsimoniously, explained by the continuity theory of dreaming, with this theory predicting a negative relationship between dream incorporations of the stressor and initial adjustment, and consequently, a negative relationship between dream incorporations and follow-up adjustment. Underlying these predictions were the central tenets of continuity theory - that dreams of stressors reflect current concerns, and preoccupation with stressors leads to more dreams of the stressor and consequently poorer follow-up adjustment.
The findings of the current research were consistent with previous research findings of continuity between dream content and concurrent adjustment (e.g. Cartwright et al., 1984; Domhoff, 1996; Hall & Nordby, 1972; Hartmann, 1996a; Mack, 1992; Punamaki, 1998; Trenholme, Cartwright, & Greenberg, 1984; Wilmer, 1996; Zadra et al., 1997-1998). The findings were consistent with the results of Koulack, Prevost, and De Koninck (1985) who also found an association between high recall of dreams of stressful events and poor subsequent adaptation to the events. They were also consistent with the findings of Siegel’s (1996) study of the dreams of Californian firestorm survivors, in which he found an association between dreams that showed a diminishing focus on the trauma and positive psychological adjustment over a year later. Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 219
Relationship Between Dreams, Personality, and Adjustment
Another important research question addressed by the current series of studies was whether the relationship between dream content and adjustment might reflect an individual’s personality. This question involved the investigation of personality and coping variables in predicting initial adjustment. Some of the factors that are known to influence how well and how quickly an individual recovers from the effects of a stressful life event such as a marital separation are personality, resilience, and coping skills (Andrew & Robinson, 1991; Booth & Amato, 1992; Cohen & Dekel, 2000; Demo & Acock, 1996; Garvin, Kalter & Hansell, 1993; Pearlin & Schooler, 1978). Both the cognitive and functional theories of dreaming predicted a significant relationship between personality and both dream incorporation and initial adjustment. Ego strength was found by previous research to be associated with both fewer dreams of stressors and better adjustment (Kaminer & Lavie, 1991, 1993; Lavie & Kaminer, 1991, 1996; Levin, 1989; Tonay, 1995). The current series of studies also found a positive relationship between high ego strength and initial adjustment as well as a negative relationship between high ego strength and dreams of the stressor. The emotional adjustment theories of dreaming can accommodate this finding since it helps to explain why some individuals dream more than others about their stressors, a phenomenon that Cartwright (1991) had pondered in her study of divorcees. This finding was also consistent with the continuity theory, which predicted continuity between personality, dream content and concurrent adjustment.
Linked to the previous research question was the question of whether personality and coping style would predict follow-up adjustment. The finding of the current series of studies was that high ego strength and low avoidant coping did not predict follow-up adjustment, except by way of predicting initial adjustment. Indeed, initial adjustment was found to be the only significant predictor of follow-up adjustment. The emotional adjustment theories of dreaming predicted that the relationship between dream content and personality would be significant in relation to concurrent, but not necessarily follow-up adjustment, where dreams of the stressor would emerge as a more important Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 220
predictor of adjustment. However, more recent versions of the theories (e.g., Cartwright, Young, Mercer & Bears, 1998; Cartwright, Baehr, Kirkby, Pandi-Perumal & Kabat, 2003; Cartwright, Agargun, Kirkby & Friedman, 2006) would be consistent with individual factors influencing the degree to which REM processes could be effective. Cartwright et al. have suggested that very high levels of affect may lead to REM dysfunction; or in some individuals, memory storage of helpful associations may be lacking.
The current findings were more consistent, however, with the continuity theory of dreaming, which predicted that factors associated with waking and dreaming preoccupation with stressors would predict poorer follow-up adjustment. These findings were also consistent with the idea that dreams may have no independent function (Antrobus, 1993, 2000; Blagrove, 2000; Flanagan, 2000), and may in fact simply reflect waking preoccupations. The finding of a significant relationship between personality and concurrent adjustment was consistent with both sets of theories of dreaming, although the finding of a significant negative relationship between dream inclusions of spouse / marriage and ego strength in married participants suggests that there may be some continuity between personality and dream content.
Some interesting inter-relations between personality and dream factors emerged from the analyses. People with high ego strength tended to have significantly thicker boundaries, less nightmare distress, and fewer dreams about their ex-spouse than people with low ego strength. In addition, they tended to display better adjustment, at any given point in time. Although this study was not able to determine the direction of these relationships in terms of causation, previous research (Andrew & Robinson, 1991; Booth & Amato, 1992; Cohen & Dekel, 2000; Demo & Acock, 1996; Garvin, Kalter & Hansell, 1993; Pearlin & Schooler, 1978) suggests that personality and coping factors are important in determining how well separated participants adjust to their changed marital circumstances. The findings would be consistent with the suggestion that people with high ego strength are more resilient and less likely to become preoccupied with the Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 221
stressors they face, although their coping style is not necessarily avoidant (Kaminer & Lavie, 1991, 1993; Lavie & Kaminer, 1991, 1996).
The relationship between thinner boundaries and low levels of adjustment were consistent with the suggestion that high ego strength and thicker boundaries are similar constructs, and are both associated with resilience in the individual, whereas low ego strength, thin boundaries and the use of avoidant coping could be said to characterise the individual who has a greater propensity for rumination, hyper-sensitivity, and nightmare suffering.
Boundary thinness was shown to be positively related to dream frequency as had been found by previous studies (Cowen & Levin, 1995; Hartmann, 1989, 1991; Hartmann, Elkin, & Garg, 1991; Schredl, Kleinfechner, & Gsell, 1996; Schredl, Schäfer, Hofmann, & Jacob, 1999) and people with thin boundaries were shown to be more likely to experience nightmare distress (although this relationship was not significant at the probability level of p <.01). However, no relationship was demonstrated between thin boundaries and nightmare frequency, which was consistent with some previous findings (e.g., Funkhouser, Würmle, Cornu, & Bahro, 2001; Spadafora & Hunt, 1990; Strauch & Meier, 1996) and inconsistent with others (e.g., Galvin & Arch, 1990; Hartmann, 1989, 1991, 1996; Levin, Galin, & Zywiak, 1991; Pietrowsky & Köthe, 2003; Schredl et al., 1996; 1999).
It has been theorised that individuals who may be predisposed to developing repetitive dream patterns, are those who tend to experience life as particularly intense and absorbing (Belicki & Cuddy, 1991; Najam & Malik, 2003), and some of the personality factors found to be important in the current research are consistent with such a profile. It seems highly likely that the best candidate variables for explaining why some people dream more about their waking stressors than others, reside within the individual.
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 222
Differences Between Married and Separated Participants
Married participants were included in the current research in order to serve as a control group. Although married people were significantly less adjusted at all time points than separated participants, they also improved on adjustment over the first three months of Study 1. Both married and separated participants with high ego strength tended to dream less about their spouses and ex-spouses and both married and separated people with thinner boundaries tended to have more dreams generally. This was consistent with previous research that has shown a general association between low ego strength, thin boundaries, and high dream recall (Claridge, Clark & Davis, 1997; Hartmann, 1997, 2000; Kaminer & Lavie, 1991, 1993; Köthe & Pietrowsky, 2001; Lavie & Kaminer, 1996; Levin, 1989; Miro & Martinez, 2005; Pietrowsky & Köthe, 2003; Schredl, Schafer, Hofmann & Jacob, 1999; Tonay, 1995).
In both groups, there was a relationship between ego strength and both concurrent and follow-up adjustment and between more dreams of spouse / ex-spouse and initial depression. This was similar to the findings of Kaminer and Lavie (1991, 1993) and Lavie and Kaminer (1996), who studied holocaust survivors and found a relationship between high ego strength and both adjustment and fewer dreams of traumatic wartime experiences. The finding of similar relationships between dream incorporation, personality and initial adjustment across both groups was consistent with the cognitive theories of dreaming, but the finding that married participants improved in their adjustment over time was unexplained.
The Influence of Dream Data Collection Techniques
In addition to testing the possible relationship between dream incorporations of the stressor and adjustment, the current research also aimed to test the hypothesis that only unrecalled (and thus, uninterrupted) dreams are able to fulfil an emotional adjustment function (e.g. Greenberg et al., 1970; Kramer, 1993). These studies explored this through the utilisation of multiple methods of data collection. Although some Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 223
variation in recall was expected (Schredl, 1999), the research tested whether the results would be consistent when dream content was collected via questionnaire, dream diary or laboratory REM-awakenings. Study 4 allowed for dream recall and dream content to be measured in three different ways, in turn allowing for comparison of data gathered using the different methodologies.
REM awakenings in the overnight sleep laboratory setting yielded more dream reports per night than the questionnaire or diary method. Also as expected, the questionnaire method resulted in a slight underestimate of dream recall, compared to dream diary recording. Dreams incorporations of the ex-spouse or separation were recalled at different rates depending on the method of dream collection. Separated people were more likely to overestimate the number of dreams containing references to their ex-spouses and separations, when completing a questionnaire, than when completing a more objective measure such as a dream diary, or being woken from REM sleep in a laboratory. However, regardless of the method of dream data collection used, there was a significant relationship between better adjustment and fewer incorporations. These findings were consistent with cognitive theories of dreaming, and did not support the functional theories of dreaming. More particularly, they were consistent with the continuity theories of dreaming. The findings of Study 4 showed that the negative relationship between dream incorporations and adjustment that was found in Studies 1 and 2, was not due to better-adjusting individuals forgetting the dreams that related to their situation. In fact, the opposite was found, in that more frequent dreams with stressor inclusions occurred in those who were least well adjusted and who showed the least amounts of improvement over time.
A strength of the current research was the collection of a large dream sample. In all, 1073 dreams were collected from the dream diaries or REM awakenings of 117 participants. The examination and qualitative analyses of this large sample was no small undertaking, but resulted in a detailed thematic picture of the dream content of people dealing with marital separation and other stressful life events. Nevertheless, the study may have been improved with a systematic analysis of the dream samples, using a Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 224
specific coding system such as that devised by Hall and Van de Castle (1966) and elaborated on by Domhoff (2001b). Such a system was not used because of the very specific nature of the research population and concern that a generic system may not have captured themes and characteristics peculiar to this research’s population of recently separated dreamers. A combination of both a thematic and systematic generic coding may have allowed for a more comprehensive qualitative and quantitative analysis of the dream data.
Sleep Loss
Separated people reported sleeping less well than their married counterparts, and they reported sleeping for an average one hour less than they did prior to their separations. This is hardly surprising, since hyperarousal caused by the stress and worry of a marital separation is likely to result in sleep loss. Hyperarousal resulting from worry and stress is reported by about half of those who experience insomnia, with the degree of sleep disturbance depending on the duration and severity of the stressful circumstances (Dement, 1999). Mental overactivity and psychological arousal are known to be widely implicated in the development and maintenance of insomnia, and there is solid evidence that attitudes, beliefs and mental arousal are more central to the complaint of insomnia than physiological arousal (Espie, Inglis & Harvey, 2001).
Nightmare Frequency and Distress
There was a trend in the current studies for separated people to experience more nightmares and nightmare distress than married people. Nightmare distress emerged as having a strong relationship with general adjustment, particularly depression, both in married and separated participants. People who suffered higher degrees of nightmare distress tended to be more depressed. This was consistent with findings by Belicki (1992a) and Wood and Bootzin (1990), who found that nightmare distress was a better indicator of emotional and psychological wellbeing than nightmare frequency. The relationship between nightmare distress and poor adjustment was consistent with the finding of a relationship between more dreams about the ex-spouse and poor Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 225
adjustment. It would seem that those with poor adjustment experience more distress, both during sleep and waking, and this distress is somewhat interactive. It seems likely that their waking concerns and preoccupations are reflected in their dreams and nightmares, and their dream and nightmare content causes them waking distress as well.
Case Study Data, Situational Factors and Adjustment
The triangulation of case study analyses with quantitative analyses provided an opportunity whereby the case study analyses could both enrich and validate quantitative findings. A series of studies such as these involves the collection of much rich and complex data about individuals. Only case study analyses and detailed examination of the dream content data could do justice to the wealth of qualitative data that was generously supplied by the participants. It was this qualitative data that brought the quantitative data about the participants to life, and helped to explain how dream content can be so meaningful to individuals and reveal so much about their innermost concerns and preoccupations.
The autobiographical data that was collected as part of the case study analyses highlighted an important aspect of the research of the complex issue of adjustment following marital breakdown. The survey in which participants were able to record an unstructured account of their separation experiences revealed many of the great variety of factors that potentially influence adjustment, other than those that were measured in this series of studies. Indeed, the variety of factors is so numerous that it would be impossible for any single research project to include them all. Nevertheless, some of these situational factors certainly may explain why the relationships found in this research between adjustment, personality, and dream content are so complex. The divorce literature points to many factors, such as: levels of social support, relationship quality, and conflict (Demo & Acock, 1996; Gray & Silver, 1990); and factors that exist at a community or structural level, such as employment opportunities, financial support, government policies, and community services (Amato, 2000). Material resources are thought to be quite important (Amato, 2000), but they were not assessed in the current Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 226
studies. This could be considered a limitation of the research and future studies investigating separated or divorced populations could include such a variable.
Strengths and Limitations of the Research
Two key strengths of the current research were the use of convergent methods of data collection and the use of a combined cross-section and longitudinal design. The combination of cross-sectional and longitudinal design in Studies 1 and 2 involved testing at three separate time points. Additionally, Study 4 utilised a longitudinal design across a two-month period with testing at two separate time points. This longitudinal approach enabled us to track participants over a period when adjustment change was likely to occur, and detect fluctuations in adjustment patterns over time. Tracking participants across three different time points addressed some of the methodological problems of Cartwright’s (1991) study, by ensuring that there was not too long a gap between contacts with the participants.
A strength of the research was the use of three different dream data collection methods across the four studies. Using questionnaires, dream diaries, and REM awakenings in a sleep laboratory meant that a large body of dream data was able to be collected, and patterns of association with other variables could be compared to ensure that they were not peculiar to one particular collection method. This also meant that the findings of these studies could be compared with those of other studies, regardless of the collection methods used. This combination of dream data collection methods addressed some of the problems identified in Cartwright’s (1991) study, which used only one night of REM awakenings to provide all of the dream data.
The multidimensional assessment of adjustment is also considered to be a strength of the current research. Adjustment occurs across many different aspects of an individual’s functioning, and it is important to measure the constructs of adjustment and adaptation broadly and comprehensively. While other studies, such as Cartwright’s (1991) study, have focused only on depression or the impact of the event, the current Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 227
research measured adjustment across four separate scales. Although two of these scales seemed to be problematic in that they could not be specifically anchored to the separation experience, the use of more than one scale did allow for the measurement of adjustment as a multifactorial construct.
There were some weaknesses of the current research that were difficult to address, but stand as limitations, which must be noted. As the design of much of the research was longitudinal, a significant proportion of the data was collected over a period of approximately a year and a half. This was a tumultuous period historically, characterized by a great deal of uncertainty, hostility and fear in the world. This period spanned the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and was overshadowed by the ongoing threat of terrorism. It is possible that this upheaval in the external environment may have had a confounding effect on the psychological wellbeing of the Study 1 and 2 participants, and consequently influenced the results in relation to the adjustment measures in both the separated participants and the married controls3. It is almost impossible to prevent the influence of such historical factors when undertaking such longitudinal research. A future study could perhaps attempt to replicate the findings in a calmer historical period. In addition, future research might use only adjustment measures that can be specifically anchored to the participants’ marital and separation experiences, rather than using general measures such as depression and satisfaction with life scales.
Ideally, the separated participants involved in a longitudinal study such as this should all have separated very recently and the latencies from separation to initial testing should be similar across all participants in the study. A limitation of Study One was that this was not the case, with the average latency from separation to initial testing being 16 months, with a range from one week to 114 months. Although participants were screened so that only those who regarded the separation to be a current issue for them could participate, some had had more time to come to terms with their new situation. In balance with this, it must also be recognised that marital separation is
3 The findings of an additional study, did not support a connection between global events concern and adjustment. Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 228
usually not one clearly delineated event, but a series of events that may take place over several months, and often years. In consideration of this, and faced with a choice between a reasonable sample size and an ideally constituted group, a decision was made in favour of the former.
Another limitation of the research was the small number of participants in the fourth study. There was a significant time commitment involved in spending the night in a sleep laboratory, participating in an interview, maintaining a dream diary, and completing two sets of questionnaires. For the participants, this may have been somewhat difficult especially at a time of personal upheaval when they may not have had their usual supports around them. These may have been the reasons, but the 19 Study 4 participants were the only volunteers for the study, despite wide advertising across the city. In any case, the sleep laboratory was only equipped with one REMview machine allowing for the overnight study of only one participant per night. Thus, a much larger sample may not have been logistically feasible even if it had been available. Nevertheless, obtaining REM latency data and dream content from REM awakenings from a larger number of separated individuals would have enhanced the findings, as would the inclusion of a married control group have done. Had the equipment been available, full EEG recordings across the night studies may also have provided a richer picture of all of the sleep stages, and shown if there were particular patterns of sleep architecture in particular individuals.
Another limitation of the study was the possibility of dream recall biases occurring in the dream diaries and questionnaires (e.g., preferential recall of dreams that were emotionally or visually salient), such as has been outlined by Foulkes (1979). The current research addressed this in part through the use and triangulation of multiple methods of dream data collection, including the REM awakening method in Study 4. In addition, individual participant factors, such as motivational differences and misunderstanding of instructions, could not be ruled out. A common limitation in dream research is the relative shortage of male participants and this occurred in all four studies. Gender differences have been observed in dreaming phenomena, and these, ideally, Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 229
should be controlled in future studies (Nielsen, Kuiken, Alain, Stenstrom & Powell, 2004). For example, Blagrove and Akehurst (2000) observed that, following stress, men’s dream recall decreases while women’s dream recall tends to increase. Others (e.g., Levin, 1994; Martinetti, 1989; Stenstrom, Nielsen, Stenstrom, Zadra & Paquette, 2003) have found that women have higher dream recall than men, and women describe more vivid, meaningful, and impactful dreams than men.
The strengths of the research included the converging methodologies in relation to dream data collection, and the combination of cross-sectional and longitudinal design. These strengths allowed for a triangulation of results showing similar findings across a range of approaches. The weaknesses of the research included the range of latencies from time of separation, gender imbalance across the samples, and the small sample size in one of the studies. All of these weaknesses could be addressed in a larger study, perhaps utilising online data collection in order to sample from a larger population of separated participants.
Future Research Directions
As discussed above, future research involving the dreams and adjustment of separated people could attempt to recruit a more homogenous group in terms of length of separation. It would be interesting to follow such a group over a longer period of time, perhaps several years, to observe fluctuations in adjustment. It would also be useful to take into account some of the situational factors that were revealed in the case study analyses, such as financial concerns and family conflict. A longer-term study could also investigate thematic change over time in the dreams of separated individuals, to ascertain if dream content reflects a process of adjustment, such as Garfield (1996) found in her research with the bereaved. It would also be useful to further explore the qualitative dimension of dream content in more detail, with a focus on threat mastery, since there was a trend in this research for individuals who adjusted well and whose depression remitted to master dream threat more often than those who adjusted poorly and remained depressed. Finally, it would be useful to assess a large group of separated participants with intermittent polysomnography (sleep state monitoring in a sleep Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 230
laboratory, either utilising a nightcap apparatus or electroencephalograph) over a longitudinal period to observe for progression of change in REM latency and sleep architecture over time.
Implications of the Research for Theory
The findings of the current research confirm the notion that dreaming more about one’s situation is not, of itself, beneficial or helpful to one’s adjustment or adaptation. It seems, in fact, to be symptomatic of a general preoccupation and distress. These findings carry implications for several of the theories of dream function, and indeed for whether or not dreams serve an independent function at all. In the main, the current findings are important in relation to the emotional problem-solving or adjustment theories (Breger, 1967; Cartwright and Lamberg, 1992; French and Fromm, 1964; Greenberg et al., 1970; Hartmann, 1995, 1996a, 1998a; Jones, 1962; Kramer, 1991, 1993), the continuity and repetition theories (Domhoff, 1996, 2001a; Hall & Nordby, 1972), threat rehearsal theory (Revonsuo, 2000), and the theory that dreams have meaning, but no function (Antrobus, 1993, 2000; Blagrove, 1992a, 2000; Flanagan, 2000). It is also argued that the findings of the current research may have relevance for theories of REM sleep function.
The current research findings are consistent with the critiques of the problem- solving theories by Blagrove (1992a, 1996), Domhoff (2003), and Revonsuo (2000) who have all outlined difficulties including: people’s generally low recall of their dreams; the high proportion of dreams that seem to be unrelated to waking problems; the concurrence of traumatic dream content and reduced wellbeing in PTSD sufferers; and the way that dreams involving waking stressors sometimes amplify rather than reduce distress. The current research found a concurrence of dream content relating to stressors and adjustment, as has been found in PTSD sufferers. Although the participants of this research were not suffering from PTSD, they were certainly experiencing what could be described as a traumatic event, but a trauma relating to a fairly common major life difficulty, rather than one likely to result in PTSD. It also Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 231
seemed likely that the more poorly adjusted separated participants in the current studies were experiencing dream content that was at least reflecting, if not amplifying, their distress.
According to the continuity theory, dream content is often continuous with the waking emotional concerns of the dreamer, and this is particularly apparent when a dream series is collected from an individual over a long period or even the larger part of a lifetime. The repetition theory (Domhoff, 1993) is an extension of this concept, and is based on the observation that people tend to have repeated dreams relating to any unresolved waking concerns about which they may be preoccupied. Dreams of people dealing with significant stressors and traumas do indeed frequently contain elements of these events, particularly emotional aspects. Repetitive dreams tend to dissipate when the waking preoccupation reduces, or in the case of post-traumatic nightmares, may become entrenched as dysfunctional dream patterns that persist over time.
The findings of this series of studies is entirely consistent with the continuity and repetition theories of dreaming and with earlier findings that dreams tend to reflect the subjective waking reality and emotional preoccupations of the individual (e.g., Cartwright, Lloyd, Knight, & Trenholme, 1984; Domhoff, 1996; Hall, 1969; Hall & Nordby, 1972; Hall & Van de Castle, 1966; Hartmann, 1996a; Trenholme, Cartwright, & Greenberg, 1984; Wilmer, 1996). Amongst separated participants, there were significant correlations between dream content involving the ex-spouse/separation and high impact of the separation and low self-rated adjustment to recent distressing events.
Although waking preoccupations were not specifically measured in this series of studies, it is expected that such preoccupation would also have been correlated with dream inclusions of the stressor. Cartwright, Luten, Young, Mercer and Bears (1998) developed a useful tool, the Current Concerns Checklist, for this purpose, and scores on this scale have been found to be correlated with dream inclusions of stressors (Cartwright, Agargun, Kirkby & Friedman, 2006; Cartwright et al., 1998). The findings in the current studies of a positive relationship between low ego strength, boundary Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 232
thinness, avoidant coping style, and dream inclusions of current stressors is also consistent with the suggestion that certain individuals are more vulnerable to developing repetitive dream patterns.
The findings of the current research were consistent with the idea put forth by Blagrove (1992a, 2000) and others (e.g., Domhoff, 1993, 2001a; Flanagan, 2000; Hobson, Stickgold, & Pace-Schott, 1998) that dreams are an epiphenomenon of REM sleep, which may itself perform a function involved in the processing of emotional material. There was no doubt that many of the participants in this set of studies found their dreams meaningful and interesting, and looked for insights from their content. Certainly, more participants seemed to find them meaningful than helpful. The finding that dreams containing current stressors were related to poor adjustment was more consistent with the hypothesis that dreams have meaning but no particular function. However, the fact that a relationship between adjustment and dream content was found at all, suggests some, possibly indirect, relationship between REM sleep processes and emotional adaptation processes.
The Healing Effect of Time – A Function of REM Sleep?
While waking thought seems to be involved in problem solving and the processing of concerns, dream content research, including the current research, suggests that REM sleep may be also involved somehow in the processing of emotional material. While this processing may be similar to that which takes place during waking thought, the peculiarities of REM sleep consciousness and physiology suggests otherwise (Hobson, Pace-Schott, & Stickgold, 2000; Maquet et al., 1996; Mann et al., 1997; Nofzinger et al., 1997; Winson, 1993).
Interestingly, in Study 4, where dream content data were also collected from REM sleep awakenings, shorter REM latency was found to be significantly correlated with poorer levels of adjustment initially and at follow-up. The more quickly that participants tended to enter REM sleep, after going to sleep, the more likely that they Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 233
were experiencing poorer wellbeing and were less adjusted at each time point. Furthermore, the only significant distinction between those who reported dreams incorporating their ex-spouse when awakened from REM sleep in the laboratory and those who did not, was the latency from sleep onset to REM sleep, a difference of as much as one hour.
These findings confirmed the negative relationship found in Studies 1 and 2 between stressor inclusions and adjustment, but also suggested that both recalled and unrecalled dreams that include stressors had a negative relationship with adjustment. These findings were consistent with the possibility that dreams that contain distressing elements, particularly current stressor references, may have reflected a preoccupation with waking stressors that continues through the night. The “sequential hypothesis”, posited by Ambrosini and Giuditta (2001), and examined by Cartwright et al. (2006), suggests that such continued mental activity promotes memory processing, and takes place in slow-wave sleep as well as REM sleep. This preoccupation may reflect problems, or even result in interference, with the effective normal functioning of REM sleep. Such problems or interference may impair or slow a mechanism normally at work during REM sleep that may facilitate adjustment change over time. Cartwright et al. (2003, 2006) have suggested that emotional information processing within sleep may become blocked when affect is too high or too low, stopping dream content associated with waking concerns from connecting with related memories.
We are all familiar with the old adage that the best balm for a broken heart is time, but apart from the effects of time on memory, there is no clear explanation for the healing effects of time. It could be speculated that over time, a specific mechanism such as one facilitated by REM sleep, could be responsible for the gradual adjustment and adaptation that usually occurs over time, in relation to a loss or trauma. Even if the memories remain painful, most people are eventually able to adjust over time, to the extent that they can at least function more effectively than they did immediately following the stressful event (Amato, 2000, Wang & Amato, 2000). This is essential for their survival, and the adaptive value of such a process is obvious. Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 234
REM sleep, which is known to be involved in memory and emotional processing, and is related to nocturnal limbic activity (Maquet, et al., 1996), is a likely candidate for facilitating such a mechanism. The findings of the current research would suggest that such a function works best in resilient individuals with high ego strength who have firm intrapersonal and interpersonal boundaries, and who are disinclined to use avoidant coping strategies. In all likelihood, the REM sleep of such individuals is not greatly altered by stressful life events, and both their dreams and waking thought remain comparatively uncluttered by preoccupations of stressors.
Clinical Implications of the Research
Dream exploration is popular in therapy, both with patients and with therapists (Falk, 1993). Indeed it is fundamental to some psychodynamic forms of therapy and many people derive great personal understanding and meaning from dream sharing and dream reflection (Grace, 2001; Stewart, 2004). Although the current research did not find that dreams themselves serve a particular function in relation to adaptation, this does not negate the very real possibility that reflecting on one’s dreams may be useful to waking consciousness in several ways. As Hobson et al. (1998) have suggested, dream themes and content are still potentially informative from a clinical and personal perspective. The trend in Study 4 for people whose depression remitted to have more mastery of dream threats than non-remitters suggests that threat mastery in dreams may be worth exploring in therapy, although replication of these findings with more significant results would need to be done to confirm that this would be helpful. The current findings that dreams reflected waking preoccupations and were, if anything, exacerbating waking anxieties, implies that directly treating troubling dreams may be beneficial. Indeed, techniques for intervening to reduce the impact of distressing dreams (such as by suggestion, rehearsal, or hypnosis), by changing them to be more positive, are well-established (see Krakow & Neidhardt, 1992).
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Therapeutic Value of Dream Diary Keeping
Previous research has shown that discussion of dream content is useful in psychotherapy (Fiss, 1991; Greenberg, Katz, Schwartz, & Pearlman, 1992). The second study of the current research was a qualitative study, involving detailed analysis of 42 dream diaries, which were kept by a sub-group of separated participants from Study 1. This study was designed to capture more detailed qualitative information, about the dreams of this subset of separated participants, by allowing for the identification of common dream themes in individuals undergoing marital separation. Although some participants reported finding the exercise of keeping a dream diary therapeutic, there were no significant, measurable, adjustment differences between the Study 2 participants and those in Study 1 who did not keep dream diaries. Also, it must be pointed out that the participants in Study 2 kept dream diaries for only four weeks, whereas recording, and actively reflecting upon, dream content over a longer period may have more benefits.
What Dream Content May Reveal About Adjustment
The results of the current research demonstrated an overall finding that dreaming more about a stressor is associated with poorer adjustment. From a clinical point of view, therefore, a person who is reporting a great number of dreams relating to current stressors may require more intensive therapy and support, as they may be at higher risk of adjustment problems and reduced wellbeing. It may be helpful for therapists to work with such individuals on improving their inner resources and coping strategies, as these factors are related to adjustment outcomes. The case study analyses showed that participants who made greater adjustment gains tended to have more dreams with positive themes than negative themes, and participants who did not make adjustment gains all reported more dreams with negative themes than positive themes. In addition, adjusting participants reported more mastery of self-directed dream threats than non- adjusting participants. Clinically, therapy clients who are experiencing many negative or Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 236
threatening dreams with strong affect may benefit from therapy that addresses their fears and feelings of vulnerability. A progression to less negative and threatening themes, or to more dreams where the dreamer masters the threats, could be viewed as a sign of improved adjustment and adaptation.
Study 3 also revealed that, in terms of particular dream themes, the diary- recorded dreams of participants who made greater improvements in adjustment over time were essentially not different from those who did not make significant adjustment improvements. Overall, very similar themes occurred across all cases, regardless of adjustment change. The themes of loss, loss of control and disaster, ambivalence about ex-spouse, exposure, anxiety about children, and sexual and social rejection and failure were common negative themes for both types of cases. Positive themes, such as survival, cleaning, repair, and sexual attraction and social success, also occurred frequently across both sets of cases. Although not systematically measured in this study, the dreams of adjusting participants were not obviously different from those of non- adjusting participants in terms of richness of detail, organisation or complexity of relevant memory associations with stressors, as had been found by Cartwright and colleagues (Cartwright, Agargun, Kirkby & Friedman, 2006; Cartwright, Baehr, Kirkby, Pandi-Perumal & Kabat, 2003).
Significance of Shortened REM Latency
Shorter REM latency was found to be correlated with poorer levels of adjustment at baseline and at follow-up in Study 4. Further, REM latency was significantly shorter for participants who made the least amount of improvement over two months. These findings are consistent with previous research, which has found that REM latency is shorter in individuals suffering from depression (Kupfer & Foster, 1972) and post-traumatic stress disorder (David & Mellman, 1997). Two potential explanations for such a finding could be considered. One is that increased emotional turmoil and distress creates an increased pressure for REM sleep, perhaps because there is a raised demand for the emotional processing that may take place during this phase of Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 237
sleep. An alternative explanation is that shorter REM latency is indicative of a pathological process occurring as a result of (or indirectly producing) a state of distress. Perhaps the functions of REM sleep are less efficient in such states, thereby increasing the need for time required in REM sleep. The other possibility is that REM sleep functions are less stable or effective in certain individuals. In people with lower ego strength and a greater tendency to use avoidant coping when faced with stressful circumstances, some REM sleep functions may be more vulnerable to disruption, and excessive dreams about stressors may be symptomatic of intrusions of waking preoccupations into normal REM function.
Chapter Discussion
There is little doubt that one of REM sleep’s important functions relates to the processing of emotional material. There seems to be little doubt that dream content, by and large, reflects this processing, with its emphasis on realistic emotions, the representation of emotionally-influenced narratives and images, and focus upon personally salient concerns. In the same way that the content of our daydreams and non- task-focused waking thought reflect our waking preoccupations, the content of our dreams reflects our more introspective preoccupations. However, as Blagrove (1996) has shown, dream mentation is quite different from waking thought, in terms of conscious or reflexive goal-directed control. Perhaps, as Hartmann (1995, 1996, 1998a,b) has suggested, the associative networks of REM sleep cognition are less constrained by prefrontal lobe logic and analysis, allowing metaphoric and imagistic representations in REM sleep mentation. Nevertheless, there remains continuity between sleeping and waking mentation that is consistent with our personal concerns, highlighting that dreaming may not be nearly as mysterious, or revealing of unconscious processes, as some of us would like to think it is. Dreaming may be telling us more about cognitive processes that operate outside our conscious awareness, than about any actual hidden content of our unconscious minds.
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In relation to life’s difficulties and challenges, focused conscious thought can often help us to work out solutions and work through complex issues and concerns. However, if this focused thought becomes rumination and worry, it can become counter-productive and unhelpful. In the same way, sleeping mentation reflects cognitive processes involved in processing emotional material, and in the same way, when these processes go into overdrive, such frenzied activity is not usually adaptive. Indeed hyperactive REM activity, as represented by shortened REM latency and increased REM density, is characteristic of the problematic mental states of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
The propensity to develop REM sleep dysfunction, and mental disorders that are characterised by REM sleep dysfunction, is likely to be influenced by a wide range of individual factors. Such factors might include personality factors, traumatic history, and genetic makeup. Triggering factors might include trauma, emotional upheaval, and excessive waking preoccupation. Waking thought may affect sleeping mentation, which may in turn influence REM sleep function. This relationship may operate in both directions, and may explain why many antidepressants reduce both REM sleep and waking rumination. Alternatively, antidepressants may reduce waking preoccupations, thus settling sleep mentation and improving REM sleep effectiveness. Indeed, the ability to repress distressing material, both during waking and during dreaming, may be adaptive, by granting relief from distress and allowing REM sleep to effectively perform its normal functions.
Summary
This series of studies tested the hypothesis that dreams serve an emotional adjustment function (e.g., Breger, 1967; Cartwright and Lamberg, 1992; French and Fromm, 1964; Greenberg et al., 1970; Hartmann, 1995, 1996a, 1998a; Jones, 1962; Kramer, 1991, 1993), by examining the dreams, personality and adjustment of two groups of separated individuals, as well as a married control group. The research consistently found a negative relationship between dreams of ex-spouse / separation and Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 239
adjustment, a finding that was best explained by the continuity theory of dreaming, which holds that dreams reflect the current waking concerns of the dreamer without serving any particular function (Blagrove, 1992a, 2000; Domhoff, 1996, 2001a; Hall & Nordby, 1972). It was also found that the negative relationship between dreams of ex- spouse / separation and follow-up adjustment was best explained by the correlation between initial and follow-up adjustment. Consistency with Cartwright’s (1991) findings that dreams of ex-spouse / separation predicted remission of depression in depressed separated individuals could not be found by the current research. Dream incorporation of the stressor was not found to predict change in levels of depression, in either depressed or non-depressed participants. The findings of the current studies were consistent with previous research findings of continuity between dream content and adjustment (e.g. Cartwright et al., 1984; Domhoff, 1996; Hall & Nordby, 1972; Hartmann, 1996a; Koulack, Prevost & De Koninck, 1985; Mack, 1992; Punamaki, 1998; Trenholme, Cartwright, & Greenberg, 1984; Wilmer, 1996; Zadra et al., 1997- 1998). The current research also found a relationship between personality and initial adjustment as well as a relationship between personality and dreams of the stressor. The strongest predictor of follow-up adjustment was initial adjustment, which was, in turn, predicted by personality. This finding was also consistent with the continuity theory prediction of continuity between personality, dream content and concurrent adjustment. The findings across all of the current studies were consistent with the idea that dreams may have no independent function (Antrobus, 1993, 2000; Blagrove, 2000; Flanagan, 2000), and may in fact simply reflect waking preoccupations.
The findings of this research, overall, do not lend strong support to the theory that dreams may serve a function in directly helping us to adapt or adjust to life stresses, such as those brought on by marital separation. While dreams that relate to the current stressor often have great meaning for people in such situations (Giles, 2000), and sometimes seem to help them gain insight and comfort (Cartwright & Lamberg, 1992; Falk, 1993), the findings of this research suggest that they are more often associated with distress and poor levels of emotional wellbeing. The findings were most consistent with the continuity and repetition theories of dreaming (Domhoff, 1996, 2001a; Hall & Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 240
Nordby, 1972), in that they confirmed that dream content usually reflects waking concerns and preoccupations. The findings were also consistent with the theory that dreams often have meaning for individuals, but may have no independent adaptive function (Antrobus, 1993, 2000; Blagrove, 1992a, 2000; Flanagan, 2000).
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APPENDIX
Scales And Materials Utilised In The Studies
Appendix Contents
Boundary Questionnaire (BQ18) Nightmare Scale Impact of Event Scale Brief COPE Scale Satisfaction With Life Scale Ego Strength Subscale of the MMPI-II (Item Numbers) Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS) Study Participation Scale Global Concerns Scale
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Boundary Questionnaire (Short Form) (BQ18) (Hartmann, 1998a)
Please rate each of the following statements from 0 to 4.
0 = not at all true of me 3 = quite true of me 1 = only slightly true of me 4 = very true of me 2 = somewhat true of me
1. My feelings blend into one another. 0 1 2 3 4
2. I am very close to my childhood feelings. 0 1 2 3 4
3. I am easily hurt. 0 1 2 3 4
4. I spend a lot of time daydreaming, fantasising, or in reverie. 0 1 2 3 4
5. I like stories that have a definite beginning, middle, and end. 0 1 2 3 4
6. A good organization is one in which all the lines of responsibility are precise and clearly established. 0 1 2 3 4
7. There is a place for everything, and everything should be in its place. 0 1 2 3 4
8. Sometimes it’s scary when one gets too involved with another person. 0 1 2 3 4
9. A good parent has to be a bit of a child, too. 0 1 2 3 4
10. I can easily imagine myself as an animal or what it might be like to be an animal. 0 1 2 3 4
11. When something happens to a friend of mine or to a lover, it is almost as if it happened to me. 0 1 2 3 4 Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 276
12. When I work on a project, I don’t like to tie myself down to a definite outline. I rather like to let my mind wander. 0 1 2 3 4
13. In my dreams, people sometimes merge into each other or become other people. 0 1 2 3 4
14. I believe I am influenced by forces that no one can understand. 0 1 2 3 4
15. There are no sharp dividing lines between normal people, people with problems and people who are considered psychotic or crazy. 0 1 2 3 4
16. I am a down-to-earth no-nonsense kind of person. 0 1 2 3 4
17. I think I would enjoy being some kind of creative artist. 0 1 2 3 4
18. I have had the experience of someone calling me or speaking my name and not being sure whether it was really happening or whether I was imagining it. 0 1 2 3 4
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Nightmare Scale Belicki, Chambers and Ogilvie (1997) & (NDQ) (Belicki, 1992a)
The following questions relate to nightmare experiences and the distress that people sometimes experience as a result of nightmares.
The word “nightmare” can refer to two different experiences. One involves a very
distressing dream which the individual remembers clearly. The second experience,
which instead of “nightmare” is called “sleep terror”, involves awakening in a state of
panic, without any recall of a dream. This second experience occurs most often in the
first hour or two of the night.
In the past year, how many nightmares (very distressing dreams which were easily recalled) have you experienced?
Approximately ______nightmares.
In the past year, how many sleep terrors (awakenings in a state of extreme panic, without detailed recall of a dream, usually occurring in the first couple of hours of sleep) have you experienced?
Approximately ______sleep terrors.
When you awaken from a nightmare, do you find that you keep thinking about it and have difficulty putting it out of your mind?
Never Rarely Sometimes Often Always
Do you ever find yourself avoiding or disliking or fearing someone because they were in your nightmare? Never Rarely Sometimes Often Always
Are you ever afraid to fall asleep for fear of having a nightmare?
Never Rarely Sometimes Often Always Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 278
After you awaken from a nightmare, do you have difficulty falling back asleep?
Never Rarely Sometimes Often Always
Do nightmares interfere with the quality of your sleep?
Not at all Slightly Somewhat Definitely A great deal
Do you have difficulties coping with nightmares?
Never Rarely Sometimes Often Always
Do you feel you have a problem with nightmares?
Never Rarely Sometimes Often Always
Do nightmares affect your well-being?
Not at all Slightly Somewhat Definitely A great deal
Do you ever have the feeling that something which happened in your nightmare has really occurred?
Never Rarely Sometimes Often Always
Do your nightmares foretell the future?
Never Rarely Sometimes Often Always
When you have a nightmare, does it ever seem so real that when you awaken you have difficulty convincing yourself it’s “just a dream”?
Never Rarely Sometimes Often Always
In the past year have you considered seeking professional help for your nightmares?
Never Rarely Sometimes Often Always
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Impact Of Event Scale – Revised (IES-R) (Horowitz, Wilner, & Alvarez, 1979; Weiss & Marmar, 1997)
Below is a list of comments made by people after a separation. Please check each item, indicating how frequently these comments were true for you during the past seven days with respect to the separation. If they did not occur during that time, please mark the “not at all” column.
Not at Rarely Some- Often all times
1. Any reminder brought back feelings about it. 0 1 3 5
2. I had trouble staying asleep. 0 1 3 5
3. Other things kept making me think about it. 0 1 3 5
4. I felt irritable and angry. 0 1 3 5
5. I avoided letting myself get upset when I thought about it or was reminded of it. 0 1 3 5
6. I thought about it when I didn’t mean to. 0 1 3 5
7. I felt as if it hadn’t happened or wasn’t real. 0 1 3 5
8 I stayed away from reminders about it. 0 1 3 5
9. Pictures about it popped into my mind. 0 1 3 5
10. I was jumpy and easily startled. 0 1 3 5
11. I tried not to think about it. 0 1 3 5
12. I was aware that I still had a lot of feelings about it, but I didn’t deal with them. 0 1 3 5 Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 280
Not at Rarely Some- Often All times
13. My feelings about it were kind of numb. 0 1 3 5
14. I found myself acting or feeling like I was back at that time. 0 1 3 5
15. I had trouble falling asleep. 0 1 3 5
16. I had waves of strong feelings about it. 0 1 3 5
17. I tried to remove it from my memory. 0 1 3 5
18. I had trouble concentrating. 0 1 3 5
19. Reminders of it caused me to have physical reactions such as sweating, trouble breathing, nausea, or a pounding heart. 0 1 3 5
20. I had dreams about it. 0 1 3 5
21. I felt watchful and on-guard. 0 1 3 5
22. I tried not to talk about it. 0 1 3 5
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Brief COPE Scale (Carver, 1997)
The next set of items deal with ways you’ve been coping with the stress in your life since the separation. There are many ways to try to deal with problems. These items ask you what you’ve been doing to cope with this one. Obviously, different people deal with things in different ways, but I’m interested in how you’ve tried to deal with it. Each item says something about a particular way of coping. I want to know to what extent you’ve been doing what the item says. How much or how frequently. Don’t answer on the basis of whether it seems to be working or not – just whether or not you’re doing it. Use these response choices. Try to rate each item separately in your mind from the others. Make your answers as true FOR YOU as you can.
Place a number from 1 to 4 in the box beside the statement, indicating the following:
1 = I haven’t been doing this at all. 2 = I’ve been doing this a little bit. 3 = I’ve been doing this a medium amount. 4 = I’ve been doing this a lot.
1. I’ve been turning to work or other activities to take my mind off things.
2. I’ve been concentrating my efforts on doing something about the situation I’m in.
3. I’ve been saying to myself “this isn’t real”.
4. I’ve been using alcohol or other drugs to make myself feel better.
5. I’ve been getting emotional support from others.
6. I’ve been giving up trying to deal with it.
7. I’ve been taking action to try to make the situation better.
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8. I’ve been refusing to believe that it has happened.
9. I’ve been saying things to let my unpleasant feelings escape.
10. I’ve been getting help and advice from other people.
11. I’ve been using alcohol or other drugs to help me get through it.
12. I’ve been trying to see it in a different light, to make it seem more positive.
13. I’ve been criticizing myself.
14. I’ve been trying to come up with a strategy about what to do.
15. I’ve been getting comfort and understanding from someone.
16. I’ve been giving up the attempt to cope.
17. I’ve been looking for something good in what is happening.
18. I’ve been making jokes about it.
19. I’ve been doing something to think about it less, such as going to movies, watching TV, reading, daydreaming, sleeping, or shopping.
20. I’ve been accepting the reality of the fact that it has happened.
21. I’ve been expressing my negative feelings.
22. I’ve been trying to find comfort in my religion or spiritual beliefs.
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Continue with the questions, placing a number from 1 to 4 in the box beside the statement, indicating the following:
1 = I haven’t been doing this at all. 2 = I’ve been doing this a little bit. 3 = I’ve been doing this a medium amount. 5 = I’ve been doing this a lot.
23. I’ve been trying to get advice or help from other people about what to do.
24. I’ve been learning to live with it.
25. I’ve been thinking hard about what steps to take.
26. I’ve been blaming myself for things that happened.
27. I’ve been praying or meditating.
28. I’ve been making fun of the situation.
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Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) (Diener, Emmons, Larson, & Griffin, 1985)
Below are five statements with which you may agree or disagree. Using a 1 to 7 scale, indicate your agreement with each item by placing the appropriate number in the box next to that item. Please be open and honest in your responses.
The 7-point scale is:
1 = strongly disagree 5 = slightly agree
2 = disagree 6 = agree
3 = slightly disagree 7 = strongly agree
4 = neither agree nor disagree
In most ways my life is close to ideal.
The conditions of my life are excellent.
I am satisfied with my life.
So far I have got the important things I want in life.
If I could live my life again, I would change almost nothing.
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Ego Strength Subscale Of The MMPI-2 (Subscale - Barron, 1953), (MMPI-2 - Hathaway & McKinley, 1989)
ITEM NUMBERS (ITEMS MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED)
True 2 33 45 98 141 159 169 177 179 189 199 209
213 230 245 323 385 406 413 425
False 23 31 32 36 39 53 60 70 82 87 119 128 175 196 215 221 225 229 236 246 307 310 316 328 391 394 441 447 458 464 469 471
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 286
Depression, Anxiety And Stress Scales (DASS) (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1996)
Please read each statement and circle a number 0, 1, 2 or 3 which indicates how much the statement applied to you over the past week. There are no right or wrong answers. Do not spend too much time on any statement.
The rating scale is as follows:
0 Did not apply to me at all 1 Applied to me to some degree, or some of the time 2 Applied to me to a considerable degree, or a good part of the time 3 Applied to me very much, or most of the time
1. I found myself getting upset by quite trivial things. 0 1 2 3
2. I was aware of dryness of my mouth. 0 1 2 3
3. I couldn’t seem to experience any positive feeling at all. 0 1 2 3
4. I experienced breathing difficulty (eg, excessively rapid breathing, breathlessness in the absence of physical exertion). 0 1 2 3
5. I just couldn’t seem to get going. 0 1 2 3
6. I tended to over-react to situations. 0 1 2 3
7. I had a feeling of shakiness (eg, legs going to give way). 0 1 2 3
8. I found it difficult to relax. 0 1 2 3
9. I found myself in situations that made me so anxious I was most relieved when they ended. 0 1 2 3
10. I felt that I had nothing to look forward to. 0 1 2 3
11. I found myself getting upset rather easily. 0 1 2 3
12. I felt that I was using a lot of nervous energy. 0 1 2 3
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 287
13. I felt sad and depressed. 0 1 2 3
14. I found myself getting impatient when I was delayed in any way (eg, lifts, traffic lights, being kept waiting). 0 1 2 3
15. I had a feeling of faintness. 0 1 2 3
16. I felt that I had lost interest in just about everything. 0 1 2 3
17. I felt I wasn’t worth much as a person. 0 1 2 3
18. I felt that I was rather touchy. 0 1 2 3
19. I perspired noticeably (eg, hands sweaty) in the absence of high temperatures or physical exertion. 0 1 2 3
20. I felt scared without any good reason. 0 1 2 3
21. I felt that life wasn’t worthwhile. 0 1 2 3
22. I found it hard to wind down. 0 1 2 3
23. I had difficulty in swallowing. 0 1 2 3
24. I couldn’t seem to get any enjoyment out of the things I did. 0 1 2 3
25. I was aware of the action of my heart in the absence of physical exertion (eg, sense of heart rate increase, heart missing a beat). 0 1 2 3
26. I felt down-hearted and blue. 0 1 2 3
27. I found that I was very irritable. 0 1 2 3
28. I felt I was close to panic. 0 1 2 3
29. I found it hard to calm down after something upset me. 0 1 2 3
30. I feared that I would be “thrown” by some trivial but unfamiliar task. 0 1 2 3
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 288
31. I was unable to become enthusiastic about anything. 0 1 2 3
32. I found it difficult to tolerate interruptions to what I was doing. 0 1 2 3
33. I was in a state of nervous tension. 0 1 2 3
34. I felt I was pretty worthless. 0 1 2 3
35. I was intolerant of anything that kept me from getting on with what I was doing. 0 1 2 3
36. I felt terrified. 0 1 2 3
37. I could see nothing in the future to be hopeful about. 0 1 2 3
38. I felt that life was meaningless. 0 1 2 3
39. I found myself getting agitated. 0 1 2 3
40. I was worried about situations in which I might panic and make a fool of myself. 0 1 2 3
41. I experienced trembling (eg, in the hands). 0 1 2 3
42. I found it difficult to work up the initiative to do things. 0 1 2 3
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 289
Study Participation Scale
These are a few questions now about your experience of participating in the study. Please answer by circling the number on the scale which best represents how you feel.
1 represents “strongly disagree” and 7 represents “strongly agree”.
1. Participating in the study helped me to adjust to my new situation.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
2. Participating in the study helped me to gain insight into my inner feelings and thoughts. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
3. Participating in the study helped me to confront my situation and take stock of where I was at. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
4. Participating in the study helped to accelerate the process of healing after a difficult time. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
5. By focusing on thinking about my dreams, I learnt more about myself and my situation. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
6. Participating in the study made me feel worse about my situation. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 290
7. Participating in the study made me realise how unhappy I actually was. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8. I found participating in the study was somehow beneficial or therapeutic in itself. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
9. It helped me to know that researchers were interested in the difficulties faced by people in my situation. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 291
Global Concerns Scale
Below are some questions relating to world-wide events, such as military conflict and global warming, which sometimes cause people to feel worried and concerned, or even
frightened. You are asked to rate the level of distress, upset, or concern that you are currently experiencing in relation to these events, on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 represents
“minimal or no distress / concern” and 10 equally “very deep distress / concern”.
1. How would you rate the extent of distress or personal concern that you feel in relation to the state of affairs in the Middle East?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
2. How would you rate the extent of distress or personal concern that you feel in relation to the worldwide events precipitated by the September 11th attacks in the USA in 2001?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
3. How would you rate the extent of distress or personal concern that you feel in relation to the ongoing conflict in Iraq?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
4. How would you rate the extent of distress or personal concern that you feel in relation to global warming?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
5. How would you rate the extent of distress or personal concern that you feel in relation to the Bali bombings?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
6. How would you rate the extent of distress or personal concern that you feel in relation to the current global economic climate?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Dreams and Adjustment Following Separation 292
7. How would you rate the extent of distress or personal concern that you feel in relation to civil unrest in other countries?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
8. How would you rate the extent of distress or personal concern that you feel in relation to national security?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
9. How would you rate the extent of distress or personal concern that you feel in relation to environmental issues in general?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
10. How would you rate the extent of distress or personal concern that you feel in relation to global issues generally?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Have you ever dreamed about any of the above global events or issues? (Please circle one)
YES NO
If you have dreamed about any of the above global events or issues, please describe the dream/s below and give details about how many dreams you had and over what time period you had them.