Ashby Boland, Lauren Reyes, and Nicole Short (all Psychology), along with colleagues from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and SAFE Austin, have published a manuscript titled “Temporal associations between nightmares and PTSD symptoms in the acute post-sexual assault period: An ecological momentary assessment study” in the Journal of Mood & Anxiety Disorders.

This study examined the day-to-day relationship between nightmares and PTSD symptoms in the six weeks following sexual assault using brief daily surveys. While nightmares and PTSD symptoms tracked closely with one another overall, day-to-day increases in nightmares did not significantly predict next-day PTSD symptoms, or vice versa, once the stability of symptoms over time was accounted for. The findings suggest that nightmares may function more as a marker of overall PTSD severity than as a direct driver of short-term symptom change, highlighting their potential value as an early indicator of greater posttraumatic distress.