This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Clinical Characteristics and Personality Patterns

Joyce D. Kales, MD; Anthony Kales, MD; Constantin R. Soldatos, MD; Alex B. Caldwell, PhD; Dennis S. Charney, MD; Enos D. Martin, MD

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1980;37(12):1413-1417.

Abstract
• The development and clinical course of night terrors and the personality patterns of patients with this disorder were evaluated in 40 adults who had a current complaint of night terrors. Compared with a group of adult sleepwalkers, the patients with night terrors had a later age of onset for their disorder, a higher frequency of events, and an earlier time of night for the occurrence of episodes. Both groups had high levels of psychopathology, with higher values for the night terror group. The sleepwalkers showed active, outwardly directed behavioral patterns, whereas the night terror patients showed an inhibition of outward expressions of aggression and a predominance of anxiety, depression, tendencies obsessive-compulsive/, and phobicness. Although night terrors and sleepwalking in childhood seem to be related primarily to genetic and developmental factors, their persistence and especially their onset in adulthood are found to be related more to psychological factors.

Author Affiliations
From the Department of Psychiatry and Sleep Research and Treatment Center, the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey (Drs J. Kales, A. Kales, Soldatos, and Martin), the Department of Psychiatry, University of California, Los Angeles, Center for Health Sciences, Los Angeles (Dr Caldwell), and the Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn (Dr Charney).

Footnotes
Accepted for publication Feb 8, 1980.

Presented in part before annual meetings of the Association of the Psychophysiological Study of Sleep, Houston, April 30, 1977, and Palo Alto, Calif, April 5, 1978.

Reprint requests to Department of Psychiatry, Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA 17033 (Dr J. Kales).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Lesson of the week: Fear of the dark in children: is stationary night blindness the cause?
Sidiki et al.
BMJ 2003;326:211-212.
FULL TEXT  

Development of Parasomnias From Childhood to Early Adolescence
Laberge et al.
Pediatrics 2000;106:67-74.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Electroencephalographic Sleep in Panic Disorder: A Focus on Sleep-Related Panic Attacks
Mellman and Uhde
Arch Gen Psychiatry 1989;46:178-184.
ABSTRACT  

The Natural History of Night Terrors
DiMario and Emery
CLIN PEDIATR 1987;26:505-511.
ABSTRACT  

Sudden, Unexplained Nocturnal Death Syndrome and Night Terrors
Melles and Katz
JAMA 1987;257:2918-2919.
ABSTRACT  

Sleep Disorders: Insomnia, Sleepwalking, Night Terrors, Nightmares, and Enuresis
KALES et al.
ANN INTERN MED 1987;106:582-592.
ABSTRACT  

Who Has Nightmares? The Personality of the Lifelong Nightmare Sufferer
Hartmann et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 1987;44:49-56.
ABSTRACT  

Is Drug Treatment of Night Terrors Warranted?
WEISSBLUTH
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 1984;138:1086-1086.
ABSTRACT  

Narcolepsy-Cataplexy: I. Clinical and Electrophysiologic Characteristics
Kales et al.
Arch Neurol 1982;39:164-168.
ABSTRACT  

Narcolepsy-Cataplexy: II. Psychosocial Consequences and Associated Psychopathology
Kales et al.
Arch Neurol 1982;39:169-171.
ABSTRACT