Self-reported developmental changes in the frequency and characteristics of somnambulistic and sleep terror episodes in chronic sleepwalkers.

BACKGROUND

Far from being benign, somnambulistic episodes can be frequent and/or severe and potentially injurious. Episodes may also be accompanied by sleep mentation with variable degrees of retrograde amnesia. The present study investigated how somnambulistic episodes unfold from childhood through adulthood, a topic that remains understudied.

METHODS

Adult sleepwalkers with a diagnosis of primary somnambulism and a childhood onset of the disorder (n = 113) were assessed for changes in frequency of their episodes, recall of episode-related sleep mentation and aggressive episodes during childhood, adolescence and adulthood. In addition, sleepwalkers (n = 52) with childhood-onset of sleep terrors were assessed for developmental changes in sleep terror frequency.

RESULTS

Results indicate that the frequency of somnambulistic episodes remains unchanged during childhood and adolescence before increasing during adulthood. An opposite trend was observed for sleep terrors. The frequency of aggressive somnambulistic episodes and of sleep mentation associated with somnambulism increased from childhood to adolescence and into adulthood. By contrast, the recall of sleep mentation associated with sleep terrors did not change over time. Additionally, a higher frequency of aggressive somnambulistic episodes predicted a higher frequency of sleep mentation associated with somnambulism. These patterns were similar across men and women.

CONCLUSION

Our study demonstrates that in chronic sleepwalkers, sleep mentation associated with somnambulistic episodes increases with age while episodes worsen in frequency and severity from childhood to adulthood. These findings add to the limited literature in the field and provide valuable insights into how key clinical characteristics of somnambulism evolve across the lifespan.