Descriptive Study of Nightmare Incidences at Primary Schools (1-6 grades) in Jalalabad City

Nightmares are unpleasant or frightening dreams that occur sporadically in virtually all children. The peak incidence occurs between 3 and 6 years of age. Developmental, genetic, psychological, and organic factors have been identified as causes of nightmares. Nightmares usually occur in the middle of the night or in the early morning when rapid eye movement sleep is more common. The content of the nightmare almost always involves a specific danger to the child. On awakening, the child is fully alert, may be easily calmed or comforted, and can usually recall the details of the nightmare. Sporadic nightmares are common in children and require reassurance only. If nightmares are frequent and persistent, a psychological evaluation of the child and family is indicated

This study investigated the relationships between a history of childhood maltreatment, the frequency of disturbing dreams, their associated distress, and the presence of psychopathology. Participants completed questionnaires assessing dream recall, bad dream and nightmare frequency, nightmare distress, psychological well-being, and history of childhood trauma.. Women reporting more severe forms of maltreatment reported higher frequencies of disturbing dreams, higher levels of nightmare distress, and greater psychopathology. Results showed that nightmare distress explains frequency of disturbed dreaming beyond the effect of psychopathology and childhood trauma. The results highlight the importance of assessing waking distress associated with disturbing dreams independently from their actual incidence.

In 18 schools of  Jalalabad city,13 out of  them were boys school and 5 of them were girls school , in primary classes(1-6) in 14000 students 9000 out of them were boys and 5000 were girls .1000 persons whom were investigated  as a sample 620 were boys and 380 were girls, 730 of them were normal and 270 persons were suspected , after ENT  and other examinations 10 of them detected as defective and they removed from research , in remaining 260 persons of whom 180(23,79%) boys and 80(7630%)girls having signs of nightmare . 240(92%)of them were having transient sings and 20(69,75)were having permanent signs of night mare .all patients were between the age of 6-13(average age 9 years )14 persons out of them did medical treatment which was 98% effective and 6 persons (30%)did cultural treatment which was 2% effective