The Relationship Between Nightmare Distress and Perceived Pain Intensity in Adolescents: The Role of Depression,...

Chronic pain is frequently experienced by adolescents, affecting their psychological health and frequently lasting into adulthood. Increased pain sensitivity has been connected to a number of sleep disorders, including nightmare distress. However, the underlying mechanisms of this relationship remain unclear. In this study, adolescents' perceptions of pain intensity and nightmare distress are examined in connection to the mediating effects of stress, anxiety and depression.

A cross-sectional study was conducted with 600 Lebanese adolescents (mean age = 15.94 years) recruited through random and snowball sampling. Participants completed validated Arabic versions of the Nightmare Distress Questionnaire (NDQ-AV), the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales for Youth (DASS-Youth-12) and a self-reported pain intensity scale.

The results showed that depression and anxiety fully mediated the association between nightmare distress and perceived pain intensity. Higher nightmare distress was significantly associated with higher depression (β = 0.04; p < 0.001) and anxiety (β = 0.05; p < 0.001), whereas higher depression (β = 0.19; p < 0.001) and anxiety (β = 0.17; p < 0.001) were significantly associated with higher pain intensity. Finally, nightmare distress was significantly and directly associated with higher pain in both models.

The study emphasises the psychological connections between nightmare distress and pain perception in adolescents. Findings suggest that addressing depression and anxiety in adolescents suffering from nightmare distress may be essential to improving pain management.