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Alexithymia and Dream Recall Upon Spontaneous Morning Awakening

From the Department of Psychology, University of Rome "La Sapienza," Rome, Italy.

Address reprint requests to: Luigi De Gennaro, PhD, Sezione di Neuroscienze, Dipartimento di Psicologia–Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza," Via dei Marsi, 78, 00185 Roma, Italy. Email: luigi.degennaro{at}uniroma1.it

OBJECTIVE: The issue of a quantitative and qualitative impoverishment of dream activity in alexithymic subjects was assessed by analysis of the 14-day dream reports of two groups of accurately selected alexithymic and nonalexithymic subjects.

METHODS: Ten alexithymic and 10 nonalexithymic women were selected from a larger sample of 160 undergraduate students. The transcriptions of their audio-recorded dream reports on 14 consecutive morning awakenings were compared with regard to their length and emotional content. Self-ratings obtained from sleep and dream diaries were further considered to assess between-groups differences in dream recall frequency and in the emotional valence, vividness, and bizarreness of dreams.

RESULTS: Dream recall frequency and mean length of dream reports were lower in alexithymic than in nonalexithymic subjects. There were no significant between-groups differences in emotional valence, vividness, bizarreness, and emotions scored according to the Hall and Van de Castle coding system.

CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest a general difficulty of alexithymics in accessing (recalling) their dreams.

Key Words: alexithymia, • emotional regulation, • dream recall, • sleep.

Abbreviations: ANCOVA = analysis of covariance;; ANOVA = analysis of variance;; EEVD = external emotional valence of dream;; IEVD = internal emotional valence of dream;; REM = rapid eye movement;; SEM = standard error of mean;; TAS-20 = 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale;; TNE = total number of emotions;; TWC = total word count.