Dream Content of Greek Children and Adolescents

This study examines the dream content of Greek children (8 to 12 years old, n = 273) and adolescents (13 to 18 years old, n = 483), collected using the "most recent dream method" and analyzed through the Hall and Van de Castle method (G. W. Domhoff & A. Schneider, 1998, New Rationales and Methods for Quantitative Dream Research Outside the Laboratory, Sleep 21 (4), pp. 398-404). Findings include higher male/female ratio and more aggression in the boys' dreams, high victimization percents, and increase of the friends' percent and decrease of the family percent with age. In general, the study confirms the results of previous similar research in other countries. It seems that dream content, analyzed by this method, is continuous with waking thoughts and concerns, although negative thoughts may be more frequent in dreams than in the waking state. The continuity hypothesis, along with theories about a regulating or compensatory function for dreaming, all seem to contribute to the understanding of dream content.