Guided by stress-vulnerability and continuity-based perspectives, this study examined how personality traits, personality prototypes (PPs), stressful life events (negative life events [NLEs]), and coping strategies are associated with nightmare vulnerability among Chinese university students. Participants completed measures of nightmare frequency, bad-dream frequency, nightmare distress, Big Five personality traits, coping strategies, and NLEs. Hierarchical regression analyses, cluster analyses, and analyses of variance were conducted to examine both trait-level and prototype-based associations. Neuroticism was the strongest positive correlate of nightmare frequency, bad-dream frequency, and nightmare distress, whereas extraversion showed modest negative associations with bad-dream frequency. Cluster analyses identified three PPs: overcontrolled (O type), undercontrolled (U type), and resilient (R type). Compared with the R-type individuals, both O-type and U-type individuals reported significantly higher nightmare frequency, bad-dream frequency, and nightmare distress. The prototype analyses further suggested that elevated nightmare vulnerability may emerge through distinct personality pathways represented by the O-type and U-type profiles. In addition, interactions among PPs, NLEs, and coping strategies suggested that nightmare experiences varied according to broader patterns of emotional vulnerability and coping tendencies. The R-type profile appeared to function as a protective factor across conditions. The findings support an integrated vulnerability framework in which personality structure, stress exposure, and coping processes jointly contribute to nightmare experiences. PPs may complement trait-level analyses by identifying distinct pathways of nightmare vulnerability beyond individual personality traits alone. These findings may have implications for interventions aimed at strengthening emotion regulation and adaptive coping among university students.
