Girls remember dreams more often

Dreams have a higher significance for girls

07/07/2011

Girls are more likely to remember their dreams and measure them more in everyday life than boys of the same age. This is the finding of researchers from the University Psychiatric Clinic Basel (UPKBS) as part of a comprehensive study involving around 5,600 participating girls and boys.

From previous studies, it was already known that women in adulthood remember their dreams better and deal with the dreamed more intense than adult men. Whether these differences already exist in childhood, the researchers of the University Psychiatric Clinics Basel have now been examined in a large-scale study. The result: Even among the adolescents, there are already clear gender-specific differences in the memory of dreams and their processing.

5,600 teenagers questioned about their dreams
As part of their comprehensive study, Serge Brand of the University Psychiatric Clinic Basel (UPKBS) and colleagues interviewed around 5,600 girls and boys by questionnaire about their dreams, their processing and sleep quality as a whole. In parallel, other factors such as personal stress, stress or individual creativity were determined, the researchers reported when presenting their study results on Tuesday. In order to ensure the comparability of the results, young people from all school types and social classes were involved, explained Serge Brand and colleagues. Overall, about 20 percent of the surveyed adolescents reported themselves in the study „often or usually“ To remember the content of their dreams, however, about 30 percent of young people declared that their dreams when waking up „only very rarely“ or „practically never“ be present. Following a more detailed analysis of the data, Serge Brand and colleagues subsequently found that there are distinct gender differences in how dreams are remembered and processed.

Gender Differences in Dreaming
The results of the current survey show that even before adulthood there are significant gender differences in the memory of dreams and the processing of dream content, said Serge Brand and colleagues in the current issue of the journal „Journal of Adolescent Health“. Thus, after waking in the morning, the girls would remember their dreams more often than boys of the same age. In addition, the girls are even more intense during the day with the contents of their dreams and measure them to a much greater importance, the researchers report. According to Serge Brand, the girls on a specially developed scale, which reflects the processing of the dreams, achieved a much higher value than the boys. (4.9 against over 4.2 on a scale of one to six). This is also due to the fact that girls generally sleep less consistently than boys and therefore wake up often at night, which increases the likelihood of a memory of the dreams, said Serge Brand. The fact that the girls seem to deal more intensively with the processing of their dreams, according to the scientists also due to the fact that „In principle, girls give their inner life a higher significance“ attach as boys. But even boys often deal intensively with the content of their dreams.

Better well-being through memory of dreams?
According to the researchers from the University Psychiatric Clinic Basel, the contents of dreams often revolve around similar things among girls and boys. Earlier Canadian studies have already revealed that many dream of falling, school, teachers, sex and personal persecution, said Serge. In a majority of the dreams (63 percent), the respondents are involved themselves, in 23 percent of the cases, the dreaming people but not in their own dreams, according to the results of the current survey. Regarding the effects of the dreams, the researchers found that 39 percent of the teenagers surveyed said dreams had a significant impact on their mood during the day. On the other side, 48 percent of respondents said dreams had no effect on their minds. According to the researchers, it was also noticeable that adolescents, who often remember their dreams, tend to regard the questions about their own sleep quality and general well-being as both good and bad as study participants who have no memory of their dreams. Those who remember their dreams often seem to be more in a good mood, sleep better, have better overall well-being and health, said Serge Brand and colleagues. (Fp)

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Image: Kurt Bouda