Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Feb 25;20(2):e0318661.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0318661. eCollection 2025.

Nightmare distress mediated the correlation between autobiographical memory specificity and depression

Jiaxi Wang  1 , Haote Fu  2 , Xiaoling Feng  3 , Heyong Shen  3
Affiliations

Nightmare distress mediated the correlation between autobiographical memory specificity and depression

Jiaxi Wang et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

In this study, we explored whether nightmare distress mediated the correlation between autobiographical memory specificity and depression. 112 participants provided their most recent dreams that happened within one month, and finished some scales that measured depression, autobiographical memory specificity, and nightmare distress. In line with our hypothesis, nightmare distress was the mediator that played a role in the relationship between autobiographical memory specificity and depression. In addition, we found that both nightmare distress and autobiographical memory specificity were correlated with the impact of a dream on one's life story. By contrast, contrary to our hypothesis, we did not find any correlation between autobiographical memory specificity, or nightmare distress, and dream bizarreness. Potential implications from these results were discussed.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. The mediating model of the mediating effect.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Conway MA, Pleydell-Pearce CW. The construction of autobiographical memories in the self-memory system. Psychol Rev. 2000;107(2):261–88. doi: 10.1037/0033-295x.107.2.261 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Williams JMG, Barnhofer T, Crane C, Herman D, Raes F, Watkins E, et al.. Autobiographical memory specificity and emotional disorder. Psychol Bull. 2007;133(1):122–48. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ahmadi Forooshani S, Murray K, Izadikhah Z, Khawaja N. Identifying the most effective strategies for improving autobiographical memory specificity and its implications for mental health problems: a meta-analysis. Cognit Ther Res. 2020;44(2):258–74. doi: 10.1007/s10608-019-10061-8 - DOI
    1. Barry TJ, Sze WY, Raes F. A meta-analysis and systematic review of memory specificity training (MeST) in the treatment of emotional disorders. Behav Res Ther. 2019;116:36–51. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2019.02.001 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Rek S, Sheaves B, Freeman D. Nightmares in the general population: identifying potential causal factors. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2017;52(9):1123–33. doi: 10.1007/s00127-017-1408-7 - DOI - PMC - PubMed