IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i3p1776-d742146.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Nightmares’ Pattern and Predictors among a Saudi University Students during COVID-19 Pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Amal A. Alghamdi

    (Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University, Dammam 34212, Saudi Arabia)

  • Nora O. Alafif

    (Department of Community Health Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh 10219, Saudi Arabia)

  • Ahmed S. BaHammam

    (The University Sleep Disorders Center, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh 11324, Saudi Arabia
    The Strategic Technologies Program of the National Plan for Sciences and Technology and Innovation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh 11362, Saudi Arabia)

  • May Almuammar

    (Department of Community Health Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh 10219, Saudi Arabia)

  • Najd S. Alharbi

    (Department of Community Health Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh 10219, Saudi Arabia)

  • Nouf A. Alhefdhi

    (Department of Community Health Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh 10219, Saudi Arabia)

  • Sara Al-Musharaf

    (Department of Community Health Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh 10219, Saudi Arabia)

  • Kholoud S. Al Ghamdi

    (Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University, Dammam 34212, Saudi Arabia)

  • Ghada F. AlYousif

    (Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University, Dammam 34212, Saudi Arabia)

  • Norah F. Al Muhanna

    (Psychiatry Department, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam 34212, Saudi Arabia)

Abstract

Purpose: During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic quarantine, university students were under various types of stressors, including the exams period, which might have affected their quality and quantity of sleep, and consequently, their quality of life. This study aimed to investigate the pattern and predictors of nightmares among university students and coinvestigate the presence of other types of sleep disturbances, mental disorders, and quarantine-related stressors. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 368 university students who answered a self-completed questionnaire covering their sociodemographic features, nightmare indicators, and associated quarantine stressors. Additionally, sleep disturbances were measured using the Generalized Sleep Disturbance Scale (GSDS), anxiety using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 2 scale, and depression using the Patient Health Questionnaire-2. Results: The participants’ mean age was 20.4 ± 1.6 years, and male participants represented 35.9% of the sample. Nightmares were experienced by 117 (31.8%) of the participants, of whom 44.4% had new-onset nightmares. The mean GSDS was 45.0 ± 14.9 (min. = 12, max. = 130). This value is associated with elevated odds of the following outcomes: the presence of nightmares (odds ratio [OR] = 1.8; confidence interval [CI] 95% = 1.1–3.0); new-onset nightmares at the time of pandemic (OR = 2.6; CI 95% = 1.3–5.5); and anxiety (OR = 1.74; CI 95% = 1.0–2.9). The presence of nightmares elevated the score of GSDS by 11.3 points (S.E. = 1.6, p < 0.001), elevated the odds of anxiety by 4.1 (CI 95% = 2.5–6.8), and depression by 2.1 (CI 95% = 1.3–3.4). Conclusions: Stressors resulting from both the exams period and the fact that it was conducted during COVID-19 quarantine increased the rate and affected the pattern of nightmares. These stressors also led to other sleep disturbances and mental disorders that were significantly more prevalent among females.

Suggested Citation

  • Amal A. Alghamdi & Nora O. Alafif & Ahmed S. BaHammam & May Almuammar & Najd S. Alharbi & Nouf A. Alhefdhi & Sara Al-Musharaf & Kholoud S. Al Ghamdi & Ghada F. AlYousif & Norah F. Al Muhanna, 2022. "Nightmares’ Pattern and Predictors among a Saudi University Students during COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-16, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:3:p:1776-:d:742146
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/3/1776/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/3/1776/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xiangting He & Tongguang Zang & Bingyu Sun & Konomi Ikebe, 2023. "Tourists’ Motives for Visiting Historic Conservation Areas in the Post-Pandemic Era: A Case Study of Kuanzhai Alley in Chengdu, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-16, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:3:p:1776-:d:742146. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.