The Dimensional Nature of Disturbed Dreaming: Reply to Weiss (2007)

摘要

The authors' proposed model of nightmare formation withstands several criticisms raised in an accompanying commentary article (D. S. Weiss, 2007). A principal criticism, that the model lacks convergent and divergent validity, appears to stem from the commenter's application of a strong categorical, as opposed to the authors' use of a dimensional, approach to the model/construct of nightmares. Furthermore, ongoing research continues to support the authors' assumptions about the basic relationship between nightmares and affect distress. Other criticisms of the model, including a failure to account for robust epidemiological differences in nightmares and an ambiguity in the concept of affect distress, are also countered by reference to relevant research findings. A robust gender difference in nightmares (women > men) is particularly compatible with studies demonstrating gender differences in emotion among the physiological and cognitive systems that the authors propose are centrally implicated in nightmare formation.