Escape Nightmares and Postescape Stressful Events

Abstract

Correlation matrix based on questionnaire item responses by 38 Czechoslovak refugees suggested that “escape nightmares” (recurrent nightmares about being back in the exhomeland, wanting to or trying to re-escape to the free world) are unrelated to postescape incidence of various stressful events (e.g., illness, job difficulties, financial problems). However, refugees who reported a greater number of the stressful events also reported a somewhat higher incidence of nightmares on themes other than escape from homeland ( r = .34).