Sleeping Position, Dream Emotions, and Subjective Sleep Quality
Mehmet Yucel Agargun,Murat Boysan,Lutfu Hanoglu
Sleep and Hypnosis: A Journal of Clinical Neuroscience and Psychopathology 2004;6(1):8-13
This study was aimed to examine the relationship between sleeping positions, dream
characteristics, and subjective sleep quality in normal subjects. Sixty-three healthy
subjects (45 males and 18 females) were included in the present study. Of these
participants, 41 were grouped in right-side sleeping position and 22 subjects were in
left-side sleeping position. The subjects were interviewed in terms of dream recall
frequency, vividness, bizarreness, nightmare frequency, and dream emotions suggested
by Hartmann et al. PSQI was also administered to the subjects. The rate of nightmare
sufferers was significantly higher in left-side sleepers (40.9%) than in right-side
sleepers (14.6%). Relief-safety was more common among right-side sleepers than the
others. Global PSQI score were significantly lower in right-side sleepers than left-side
sleepers. These findings suggest that dreaming and sleep quality may be affected by
body posture.
Keywords:
sleeping position, dreaming, dream emotion, nightmare, sleep quality,
Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), cognition