Direct and indirect effects of dispositional emotion regulation on dream experiences

Abstract

In view of the paucity of research on the role of dispositional emotion regulation in dreaming, this study comprehensively examined the indirect effects of cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression, and the difficulties of regulating positive and negative emotions on dreaming through waking positive and negative emotions. A total of 249 Chinese adults with the mean age of 32.52 years (SD = 10.60) were invited to complete the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, Perth Emotion Regulation Competency Inventory, Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule, Brief Form of Affective Neuroscience Personality Scale, Dream Intensity Scale, and Dream Motif Scale. The results revealed that cognitive reappraisal and negative emotion regulation difficulty indirectly influenced dream experiences primarily through affecting negative trait and state emotions, whereas expressive suppression indirectly influenced dream experiences via its effect on positive trait emotions. Contrary to the hypothesis, the results showed that positive emotion regulation difficulty could directly influence dreaming. The study provided the empirical evidence for the indirect and direct effect of dispositional emotion regulation on dreaming. Accordingly, the subjective experience of dreaming may reflect not only waking emotional experiences but also the strategies and difficulties of emotion regulation.