Author(s):
Bolstad, Courtney J. ; Holzinger, Brigitte ; Scarpelli, Serena ; De Gennaro, Luigi ; Yordanova, Juliana ; Koumanova, Silvia ; Mota‐Rolim, Sérgio ; Benedict, Christian ; Bjorvatn, Bjørn ; Chan, Ngan Yin ; Chung, Frances ; Dauvilliers, Yves ; Espie, Colin A. ; Inoue, Yuichi ; Korman, Maria ; Koscec Bjelajac, Adrijana ; Landtblom, Anne‐Marie ; Matsui, Kentaro ; Merikanto, Ilona ; Morin, Charles M. ; Partinen, Markku ; Penzel, Thomas ; Plazzi, Giuseppe ; Reis, Cátia ; Ross, Biserka ; Wing, Yun Kwok ; Nadorff, Michael R.
Date: 2024
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10451/62974
Origin: Repositório da Universidade de Lisboa
Subject(s): PTSD; Anxiety; Depression; Long-COVID; Post-COVID; Suicidality
Description
The association between nightmare frequency (NMF) and suicidal ideation (SI) is well known, yet the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on this relation is inconsistent. This study aimed to investigate changes in NMF, SI, and their association during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected in 16 countries using a harmonised questionnaire. The sample included 9328 individuals (4848 women; age M[SD] = 46.85 [17.75] years), and 17.60% reported previous COVID-19. Overall, SI was significantly 2% lower during the pandemic vs. before, and this was consistent across genders and ages. Most countries/regions demonstrated decreases in SI during this pandemic, with Austria (-9.57%), Sweden (-6.18%), and Bulgaria (-5.14%) exhibiting significant declines in SI, but Italy (1.45%) and Portugal (2.45%) demonstrated non-significant increases. Suicidal ideation was more common in participants with long-COVID (21.10%) vs. short-COVID (12.40%), though SI did not vary by COVID-19 history. Nightmare frequency increased by 4.50% during the pandemic and was significantly higher in those with previous COVID-19 (14.50% vs. 10.70%), during infection (23.00% vs. 8.10%), and in those with long-COVID (18.00% vs. 8.50%). The relation between NMF and SI was not significantly stronger during the pandemic than prior (rs = 0.18 vs. 0.14; z = 2.80). Frequent nightmares during the pandemic increased the likelihood of reporting SI (OR = 1.57, 95% CI 1.20-2.05), while frequent dream recall during the pandemic served a protective effect (OR = 0.74, 95% CI 0.59-0.94). These findings have important implications for identifying those at risk of suicide and may offer a potential pathway for suicide prevention.
