Does Nightmare Rescription Lead to Meaningful Changes in Language Use? An Investigation within a Treatment Seeking Sample with Chronic Post-Trauma Nightmares

Abstract

Given language's significant relationship to underlying psychological functioning, studying changes in language use regarding post-trauma nightmare (PTNM) content throughout a rescription-based treatment can offer insight into the nature of change in language associated with such treatments. LIWC2015 is an efficient tool that analyzes bodies of text for words that are theoretically representative of verbal and written expressions of underlying emotional and cognitive processes. LIWC2015 has not been extensively studied with PTNMs. The current study analyzed changes in language across cognitive and emotional domains using LIWC in a trauma-exposed treatment-seeking sample. Our analyses revealed significant changes in the frequency of words related to emotions and cognitive processing from the nightmare to rescription. In general, the rescripted imagery, relative to the nightmare, contained significantly fewer words pertaining to cognitive processing and negative emotions. This is the first known study to examine the change in language use, via word count, between nightmares and their rescripted versions. As language use is strongly associated with psychological health, these findings have clinical implications for providers and clients alike.