Abstract Mkid 69

This is a preliminary report on a study testing the adaptive theory of dreaming. Dreams of the first 12 subjects to complete a longitudinal study of volunteers untreated for an episode of major depression related to a marital break-up were recorded on four occasions during an eight month period. Nine went into remission and three failed to improve by the end of the study. These differed in ability to create and recall well-constructed dreams. Dream ability on the first night of REM awakenings was significantly correlated to the waking level of adjustment at follow-up. Eighty-nine percent of dreams in which the failed marriage or former spouse was incorporated into the dream scenario were scored as welldeveloped on the Dream-like Fantasy Scale. The affect of these Incorporation dreams was rated as Neutral or Negative with dampened affect intensity at the beginning of the study when the subjects were most depressed and as Pleasant when they occurred on the last month. These positive Incorporation dreams expressed pleasure in independence and disengagement in feeling about the former spouse. These findings are supportive of there being individual differences in an ability to form dreams that connect present affect related to a disturbing event to other images. A high level of this ability is predictive of improvement in waking functioning.