Home > Encyclopedia of Psychology > Night Terrors

Also referred to as pavor nocturnus, a childhood sleep disorder featuring behavior that appears to be intense fear.

Night terrors, known medically as pavor nocturnus, are episodes that apparently occur during the non-dreaming stages of sleep in some children. Episodes of night terrors are most common in the preschool and early school years. Night terrors usually occur within an hour or two after the child has fallen asleep, and generally do not recur with any frequency or regularity. Many children experience only one episode of night terrors, and few experience more than three or four such episodes over the whole course of childhood. A parent or caregiver witnessing an episode of night terrors, which usually lasts from ten to thirty minutes, will find...