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International Journal of Behavioral Development, Vol. 32, No. 3, 177-187 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0165025408089267

Contextualized emotional images in children's dreams: Psychological adjustment in conditions of military trauma

Elisa Helminen

University of Tampere, Finland, elisa.helminen{at}uta.fi

Raija-Leena Punamäki

University of Tampere, Finland

This study examines the impact of military trauma on contextualized emotional images in children's dreams, and the function of the intensity and valence of the emotional images in protecting mental health from negative trauma impact. Participants were 345 Palestinian children and adolescents (aged 5—16 years) belonging to high trauma (Gaza) and non-trauma (Galilee) groups. They reported nocturnal dreams using a seven-night dream diary. The results show, as hypothesized, that the dreams of children exposed to severe military trauma incorporated more intense and more negative emotional images. High intensity and low negative, and high positive emotional images in dreams may protect children's mental health. Children in the trauma group showed relatively fewer post-traumatic symptoms if their dreams incorporated intensive and positive emotional images. Similarly, personal exposure to military trauma was not associated with anxiety and aggressiveness among children whose dreams had low negative valence, or with lower anxiety when dreams had intensive emotional images. The emotional qualities of dreams are discussed as possible indicators of children processing their traumatic experiences.

Key Words: child mental health • contextualized emotional image • dreaming • emotion • trauma

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