Lucid dreaming and associated sleep and dream factors among university students in West Bank Palestine

Abstract

Lucid dreaming is a phenomenon in which the dreamer is aware that he/she is dreaming while the dream is still going on. Many studies investigated the prevalence of lucid dreaming in various populations; however, no study has been conducted in the Arab Middle East region. As age and cultural differences in attitudes towards dreams may influence lucid dreaming, we aimed to investigate lucid dreaming and associated sleep characteristics among university students in West Bank Palestine. This cross-sectional study was conducted through an online questionnaire and a total of 390 students participated. The results revealed a prevalence of 71% and frequency of 0.77 (SD=1.85) lucid dreams/month. The awareness level of lucid dreaming was 38.5% and significantly associated with lucid dreaming incidence. Participant demographics and certain sleep factors such as sleep time, latency, duration and perceived quality did not influence lucid dreaming. However, nocturnal awakening significantly associated with the occurrence of lucid dreams. Dream characteristics including dream frequency, dream recall, day-dreaming and perceived meaningfulness of dreams were all associated with lucid dreaming and positively correlated with its frequency. The results show comparable lucid dreaming patterns to other populations and indicate its dependence on many dream characteristics.