title: Sensed presence as a correlate of sleep paralysis distress, social anxiety and waking state social imagery.
abstract: Isolated sleep paralysis (ISP) is a common parasomnia characterized by an inability to move or speak and often accompanied by hallucinations of a sensed presence nearby. Recent research has linked ISP, and sensed presence more particularly, with social anxiety and other psychopathologies. The present study used a large sample of respondents to an internet questionnaire (N=193) to test whether these associations are due to a general personality factor, affect distress, which is implicated in nightmare suffering and hypothesized to involve dysfunctional social imagery processes. A new measure, ISP distress, was examined in relation to features of ISP experiences, to self-reported psychopathological diagnosis, to scores on the Leibowitz Social Anxiety Scale and to scores on a new questionnaire subscale assessing social imagery in a variety of waking states. Three main results were found: (1) ISP experiences are only weakly associated with a prior diagnosis of mental disorder, (2) sensed presence during ISP is associated preferentially with ISP distress, and (3) ISP distress is associated with dysfunctional social imagery. A general predisposition to affective distress may influence the distress associated with ISP experiences; overly passive social imagery may, in turn, be implicated in this affect distress influence.
authors.affiliation: Dream and Nightmare Laboratory, Centre d'étude du sommeil, Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal, 5400 Boul. Gouin Ouest, Montreal, Que., Canada H4J 1C5.
authors.forename: Elizaveta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Solomonova
authors.forename: Tore
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stenstrom
authors.forename: Valérie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Simard
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Frantova
authors.forename: Don
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Donderi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D004325:Dreams / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006212:Hallucinations / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D020447:Parasomnias / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D015995:Prevalence; D020188:Sleep Paralysis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D012938:Social Perception; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology