Study on the Psychotherapeutic Treatment of Chronic Nightmares

NCT ID: NCT00977340

Last Updated: 2021-08-27

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 122 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2009-10-31
• Study Completion Date: 2017-11-08

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine whether a change in the content of nightmares is necessary at all in the treatment of chronic nightmares or if a single confrontation with their content is sufficient to reduce nightmare frequency significantly.

Detailed Description

The inclusion and exclusion criteria are assessed during a telephone interview. If the participants meet the criteria, they are randomly assigned to two intervention groups or an active control group. In the first session the participants who suffer from chronic nightmares are interviewed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-I and -II) to determine the clinical diagnosis; in addition, they are given questionnaires and record sheets to obtain baseline data. They are asked to record their nightmares in a "dream diary" up until the next session four weeks later. At that session they learn one of three interventions to reduce nightmares. The first group receives imagery rehearsal treatment in which participants learn to consciously alter the contents of their nightmares and then to visualize the new set of images. The second group is subjected to confrontation treatment in which they are instructed to confront their nightmares until habituation. The third group, the psychotherapeutic placebo group, just learn an imagination technique, without reference to their nightmares. At the end of the intervention session all participants receive written instructions on how to perform the learned method at home. They must also record their dreams up until the next session. That session and the last one are used for data acquisition. At these sessions, the participants are asked to fill in the questionnaires given to them at the beginning of the treatment.

Conditions

Nightmare Disorder

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Imagery Rehearsal Treatment

Imagery Rehearsal Treatment; 1 session on-site and 4 weeks of individual daily training; following principles Krakow and Zadra (2006)

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Imagery Rehearsal Treatment

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Imagery Rehearsal Therapy

Confrontation

Confrontation with nightmare content, until fear reaction habituates; 1 session on-site and 4 weeks of individual daily training

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

confrontation

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Confrontation

Imagination

Imagination of a safe and pleasant site; 1 session on-site and 4 weeks of individual daily training

Group Type: PLACEBO_COMPARATOR

imagination

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Imagination

Interventions

Imagery Rehearsal Treatment

Imagery Rehearsal Therapy

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

confrontation

Confrontation

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

imagination

Imagination

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• nightmare frequency of at least one night per week for six month duration
• stable medication
• if currently in psychotherapy: no treatment of nightmares
• Informed consent

Exclusion Criteria

• Life time clinical diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder or bipolar disorder according to DSM-IV
• Body mass index < 17
• Initiation of nightmares after taking pharmaceuticals
• Clinical diagnosis of alcohol or drug addiction according to DSM-IV
• Mental retardation

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 65 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Goethe University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Regina Steil

Scientific director behavior therapy outpatient center

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Regina Steil, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Johann Wolfgang Goethe University - Department of Clinical Psychology and Ppsychotherapy

Locations

Johann Wolfgang Goethe University - Department of Clinical Psychology and Ppsychotherapy

Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany

Countries

Germany

Other Identifiers

StudieAlptraum1

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id