Daydreaming is a universal experience, described as a flow of thoughts unrelated to the task one is engaged in [1, 2]. This can be adaptive, with functions such as promoting creativity, preparing for the future, facilitating academic achievement, and stress relief [3–5]. Freud suggested that daydreams also perform a compensatory function by satisfying an individual’s unconscious desires [6].
However, if the tendency to daydream is not controlled, the once-adaptive functions of daydreaming can become maladaptive. Somer [7] coined the term maladaptive daydreaming to describe the act of excessive daydreaming that interferes with social, occupational, and academic functioning. These daydreams can occupy over half an individual’s waking hours, with many reporting an intense urge to daydream from the moment they awaken [8, 9]. Maladaptive daydreaming is characterized by vivid and immersive daydreams, often described as fantasies, which begin as early as childhood and continue throughout life [7, 10]. They can involve story-like plots with fictional characters that exist in an elaborate internal world, or the imagined life experiences of ideal versions of the self [7, 9]. Another distinguishing feature is that kinaesthetic movement and music can trigger and maintain maladaptive daydreaming [9, 11].
Maladaptive daydreaming is distinct from normal daydreaming due to its addictive nature, the distress it causes, and its disturbance of daily functioning [8, 9, 12]. The intense yearning, rewarding feelings, and withdrawal-like symptoms associated with maladaptive daydreaming led researchers to label it as a behavioural addiction [13]. Additionally, some maladaptive daydreamers experience great distress due to shame and the fear of their habits being discovered by others [7, 8, 10]. The sheer amount of time spent on these fantasies and the uncontrollable urge to daydream causes distress and hinders goal accomplishment and daily tasks [7, 9, 14]. Research shows that maladaptive daydreaming is distinct from other conditions with overlapping symptoms such as attention deficit, obsessive-compulsive, dissociative, and psychotic disorders [8, 15– 17]. However, the condition is yet to be recognized as a diagnosable disorder.
Maladaptive daydreaming compensates for loneliness – a manifestation of unmet belongingness needs [18, 19]. Loneliness is the negative feeling individuals experience when there is a perceived discrepancy between their existing relationships and those they desire [20]. Many maladaptive daydreamers reported that loneliness motivates them to fantasize excessively, and research has revealed social relationships are a common theme in maladaptive daydreaming content [7, 9, 10, 13]. Among adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), those who engage in maladaptive daydreaming experience more loneliness than those who do not [17]. Additionally, loneliness plays a role in predicting maladaptive daydreaming among those with autism spectrum disorder traits [21]. However, there is a lack of quantitative research on this association among non-pathological populations.
Maladaptive daydreaming to fulfill unmet needs continues concerning the need for esteem – self-esteem in particular. Self-esteem is defined as an individual’s judgment of their feelings towards the self, which can be positive or negative [22]. Qualitative reports allude to the role of self-esteem in maladaptive daydreaming, describing how individuals turn to immersive fantasies as a distraction from feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem [7, 13]. However, there is a lack of conclusive quantitative evidence for this association. A study examining maladaptive daydreaming among female survivors of childhood sexual abuse found that maladaptive daydreamers had lower self-esteem than those who did not, but this difference was not statistically significant [23]. This result can be explained by the fact that regardless of the presence of maladaptive daydreaming, trauma can still affect self-esteem [24]. Another study showed that individuals with ADHD and comorbid maladaptive daydreaming had significantly lower self-esteem than those with only ADHD [17]. Thus, quantitative evidence is still needed to unravel the connection between self-esteem and maladaptive daydreaming, especially among individuals without psychiatric disorders.
Several studies have highlighted the role of trauma in predicting maladaptive daydreaming [7, 10, 23, 25]. However, only a small percentage of maladaptive daydreamers reported traumatic experiences – a proportion that is no different from non-maladaptive daydreamers [8, 9]. This implies that trauma itself is not a necessary condition for maladaptive daydreaming, indicating that the roots of the behavior extend far deeper. Recent studies exploring the risk factors for maladaptive daydreaming amidst the COVID-19 pandemic revealed a connection between distress and immersive daydreaming, concluding that the quarantine period led to enhanced maladaptive daydreaming to cope with isolation and distress [26]. Both childhood trauma and the pandemic share the common factor of elevated perceptions of stress [27–29], which could potentially be their link to maladaptive daydreaming.
Perceived stress occurs when individuals feel that they lack the resources to handle difficult situations [30]. Individuals will then turn to excessive daydreaming to alleviate their stress levels. Supporting this view, Musetti and colleagues [31] found that maladaptive daydreaming was an immediate response to the stress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, besides using maladaptive daydreaming to fulfill the unmet needs of reality, individuals may also engage in this behavior to cope with stressful situations.
The Present Study
University life is particularly stressful, with students perceiving high levels of stress due to study load, peer pressure, and other transitional life experiences [32]. Loneliness and low self-esteem during this period can also significantly contribute to stress, leading to high levels of burnout, impaired academic performance, and diminished well-being [33–35]. To cope with the elevated stress of university life, students report that they resort to daydreaming [3]. However, this coping mechanism can be counterproductive if the tendency to daydream becomes excessive and develops into maladaptive daydreaming [28, 31]. The higher prevalence of maladaptive daydreaming among university students than among older individuals indicates that the younger cohort is more prone to it; hence, facing more consequences [36]. Indeed, higher rates of academic impairment are found among maladaptive daydreamers than non-maladaptive daydreamers [8], emphasizing the need for maladaptive daydreaming-related research on this population.
Pandemic-related studies confirm the notion that stressful conditions can exacerbate the relationship between maladaptive daydreaming and its risk factors, suggesting that stress plays a central role in these associations. In line with this, Metin and colleagues [37] proposed that perceived stress mediates the influence of factors like depression and emotional instability on maladaptive daydreaming. By applying this theoretical framework to the context of university students, the impact of loneliness and self-esteem on maladaptive daydreaming will likely be heightened via elevated stress levels. However, this relationship is yet to be examined quantitatively in the university setting. Given the influence of maladaptive daydreaming and perceived stress on academic outcomes and student well-being [8], it is important to examine this relationship to raise awareness among this cohort. Recognizing maladaptive daydreaming and its associated factors will help develop interventions to mitigate its consequences.
This study investigated if loneliness and self-esteem could contribute to maladaptive daydreaming and if those relationships are mediated by perceived stress. We hypothesized that higher loneliness scores would predict higher maladaptive daydreaming scores (H1), and that perceived stress would mediate this relationship (H2). We also hypothesized that lower self-esteem scores would predict higher maladaptive daydreaming scores (H3) and that perceived stress would mediate this relationship (H4).