Alexithymia and impoverished dream recall in asthmatic patients: evidence from self-report measures

Early clinical impressions that alexithymia is associated with diminished dream recall have been supported by more recent research. The present study was designed to examine this association using self-report measures and a carefully screened clinical population. Thirty-three male and 43 female asthmatics from an outpatient clinic were administered the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, and a questionnaire concerning retrospective recall of dreams and nightmares. Multiple regression analyses revealed that, among men, dream recall was negatively related to alexithymia, especially to the TAS analytical mode of thinking subscale, independent of age and neuroticism. Among women, dream and nightmare recall were positively correlated with neuroticism. These results are consistent with early clinical observations of pensée opératoire, with some research findings, and with the notion that dream recall may be differentially associated with components of alexithymia in men and women patients.