Long Term Reduction of Nightmares with Imagery Rehearsal Treatment
Barry Krakow, Robert Kellner, Dorothy R. Pathak, Lori Lambert
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy April 1, 1996 DOI: 10.1017/s1352465800017409 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Longitudinal follow-up study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Chronic nightmare sufferers |
| Intervention | imagery rehearsal |
| Duration | 18-month follow-up |
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Key findings | Imagery rehearsal significantly decreased nightmare frequency, with 68% of subjects no longer meeting criteria for chronic nightmare disorder after eighteen months. |
Abstract
An eighteen month follow-up of chronic nightmare sufferers treated with imagery rehearsal, a cognitive-behavioral method, demonstrated significant and clinically meaningful decreases in nightmare frequency. Sixty-eight percent of subjects decreased their nightmares below criteria for a “Chronic Nightmare Disorder”. Significant improvement was also noted for sleep quality and daytime anxiety. The findings support the theory that nightmares may be clinically conceptualized as a primary sleep disorder in some chronic sufferers.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lucid Dreaming: a State of Consciousness with Features of Both Waking and Non-Lucid Dreaming Student volunteers trained to become lucid and signal lucidity with horizontal eye... | 2009 | Observational study | n = 6 |
| Nightmare Prevalence, Nightmare Distress, and Self-Reported Psychological Disturbance Young adults with a mean age of 20 years | 2002 | Prospective observational study | n = 116 |
| Long-term effects of extreme situational stress on sleep and dreaming Survivors of traumatic events who complained of sleep disturbances, compared with... | 1987 | Case-control study | n = 11 |
| The relationship of nightmare frequency and nightmare distress to well‐being Adults who reported dreams | 2004 | Observational cohort | n = 147 |
| The prevalence of nightmares and their independence from anxiety. Undergraduates | 1990 | Observational study using daily dream logs | n = 220 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 16
- Studies with lucid dreaming as add-on therapy to Gestalt therapy Acta Neurologica Scandinavica January 30, 2015
- Status of Imagery Rehearsal Therapy and Other Interventions for Nightmare Treatment in PTSD. Current Psychiatry Reports November 1, 2025
- Nightmare Disorder. Sleep Medicine Clinics March 1, 2024
- The Effects of Pharmacological Treatment of Nightmares: A Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Analysis of Placebo-Controlled, Randomized Clinical Trials. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health December 31, 2022
- Self-efficacy as a Mechanism of Action of Imagery Rehearsal Therapy's Effectiveness: An Exploratory Mediation Analysis. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease October 1, 2018
and 11 more in the library
Cites 5
- The prevalence of nightmares and their independence from anxiety. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 1990
- The Beneficial Effects of One Treatment Session and Recording of Nightmares on Chronic Nightmare Sufferers Sleep September 1, 1992
- What is a dream? Behaviour Research and Therapy 1987
- Imagery rehearsal treatment for chronic nightmares. Behaviour Research and Therapy September 1, 1995
- Imagery rehearsal treatment of chronic nightmares: with a thirty month follow-up. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry December 1, 1993