PERSONALITY TRAITS CRITICAL LIFE EVENTS AND NIGHTMARE DISTRESS AMONG MIDDLE AGED ADULTS

Abstract

The research was conducted to explore the interplay of personality traits, critical life events and nightmare distress among middle aged (35 to 60 year) adults. A cross-sectional study design was used to gather information from 205 participants, aged 35 to 60 years, through Brief Personality Inventory, Social Readjustment Rating Scale and Nightmare Distress Questionnaire for assessing personality traits, critical life events and nightmare distress respectively. Descriptive, Correlational, Regression and Independent sample t-test analysis was performed by SPSS. The findings highlighted that neuroticism is a strong predictor of nightmare distress, whereas the openness to experience do not predict distress, suggesting that there could be cognitive flexibility that cushions the negative emotional effects of nightmares. Also, critical life events significantly predict nightmare distress. The findings show that there are no gender and age differences in distress with nightmares, which question prior assumptions about demographic vulnerability. Instead, it emphasizes that psychosocial factors surpass biological variables. These contexts, specifically collectivistic frameworks, emerged as a protective factor. The study stresses the need for culturally adaptive interventions that can integrate psychological therapies to reduce nightmare- related distress. These findings provide valuable insights into designing personalized treatments and pave a way for future research to better understand cultural and emotional predictors of dream-related distress across diverse populations.