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Self-exposure treatment of recurrent nightmares: waiting-list-controlled trial and 4-year follow-up.

Silvana Grandi, Stefania Fabbri, Naike Panattoni, Elisabetta Gonnella, Isaac Marks

Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics 2006 DOI: 10.1159/000095445 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Open and randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed
Sample size 10
Population Adults with DSM-IV nightmare disorder attending an outpatient clinic
Intervention Self-exposure manual
Duration 3-month waiting-list, 4-week self-exposure therapy, 4-year follow-up
Topics Dreaming
Key findings Self-exposure therapy markedly reduced recurrent nightmares and associated symptoms, and gains persisted over 4 years.

Abstract

In open and randomized controlled trials self-exposure therapy reduced the frequency of nightmares but follow-up ceased at 7 months post-entry. Ten adults who attended an outpatient clinic and had DSM-IV nightmare disorder were put on a 3-month waiting-list. After 3 months they were given a self-exposure manual and were asked to follow its instructions for 4 weeks and were then followed up for 4 years. They were rated at 0, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 16, 28 and 52 months. At month 0 only, a matched control group of 10 subjects from the same clinic who had no axis I or II disorder was also rated. At month 0, the nightmare sufferers had more nightmares, anxiety, depression, hostility and somatic symptoms than the matched control group. All 10 nightmare sufferers completed the 3-month waiting-list, 4-week self-exposure therapy and 4-year follow-up without any dropouts. The recurrent nightmares and most associated symptoms did not improve while on the waiting-list but improved markedly after self-exposure therapy and remained improved over the 4-year follow-up. Adults' recurrent nightmares and associated symptoms failed to improve over a 3-month waiting-list period but reduced greatly after subsequent self-exposure therapy with minimal therapist contact over 1 month, and these gains continued over the next 4 years.

Comparable studies

Other randomized controlled trials on dreaming, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Efficacy of a Cognitive‐Behavioral Treatment for Insomnia and Nightmares in Afghanistan and Iraq Veterans With PTSD Combat veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom and/or Operation Iraqi Freedom (mean age... 2013 Randomized controlled trial n = 40
Lucid Dreaming Treatment for Nightmares: A Pilot Study Chronic nightmare sufferers 2006 Randomized controlled trial n = 23
Testing the involvement of the prefrontal cortex in lucid dreaming: A tDCS study Participants spending three consecutive nights in a sleep laboratory 2013 Randomized controlled trial n = 19
Pre-sleep treatment with galantamine stimulates lucid dreaming: A double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study Adults with high dream recall and an interest in lucid dreaming 2018 Randomized crossover trial n = 121
Studies with lucid dreaming as add-on therapy to Gestalt therapy Adults with nightmares (ICD-10: F51.5) at least twice a week 2015 Randomized controlled trial n = 32

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