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Expanding Self-Help Imagery Rehearsal Therapy for Nightmares With Sleep Hygiene and Lucid Dreaming: A Waiting-List Controlled Trial

Jaap Lancee, J. Bout, Victor I. Spoormaker

November 30, 2010 DOI: 10.11588/ijodr.2010.2.6128 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Randomized controlled trial
Sample size 278
Population Participants with nightmares
Interventions Imagery Rehearsal Therapy Sleep hygiene Lucid dreaming section
Duration Follow-up at 4, 16, and 42 weeks after baseline
Topics Dreaming Lucid dreaming
Key findings Original IRT was more effective than IRT with sleep hygiene and IRT with sleep hygiene plus lucid dreaming, and was the only intervention that convincingly proved itself compared to the waiting-list condition. Results should be interpreted with caution due to low power and high dropout.

Abstract

Nightmares are a common disorder with serious consequences. Recently, the cognitive behavioral interventions Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT) and exposure proved effective in a self-help format. The aim of the current study was to compare the following self-help formats to a waiting-list: IRT; IRT with sleep hygiene; and IRT with sleep hygiene and a lucid dreaming section. Two-hundred-seventy-eight participants were included and randomized into a condition. Follow-up measurements were 4, 16, and 42 weeks after baseline. Seventy-three participants filled out all questionnaires and 49 returned the nightmare diaries. Contrary to our expectations, the original IRT was more effective than the two other intervention conditions. Moreover, IRT was the only intervention that convincingly proved itself compared to the waiting-list condition. However, these data should be interpreted with caution due to the low power and high dropout. Yet it seems that in a self-help format, IRT and exposure (which was validated previously) are the treatments of choice for treating nightmares.

Comparable studies

Other randomized controlled trials on lucid dreaming, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
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
Effectiveness of motor practice in lucid dreams: a comparison with physical and mental practice Adults who completed an online experiment 2015 Randomized controlled trial n = 68
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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