Nightmare Rescripting and Rehearsal

NCT04529070 | Terminated

• 1 other identifier: FWH20200116H
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 68
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study aims to test the efficacy of an abbreviated version of Imagery Rehearsal Therapy administered by non-mental health professionals in a Primary Care setting. This treatment, to be called 'Nightmare Rescripting and Rehearsal Therapy' (NRRT) would arm Primary Care medical personnel with a nonpharmacologic, ten minute intervention for treating recurring nightmares. The study will provide sleep hygiene education to both the control and experiment groups, NRRT to the experiment group only, and compare their Nightmare Distress Questionnaire and Nightmare Frequency Tool at two (2), four (4), and six (6) week intervals.

Conditions

Nightmare; Sleep

Keywords

nightmare rescripting; dreams; behavioral health; sleep

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Nightmare distress Questionnaire (change from nightmare distress baseline from screening at each 4 visits)

  13 questions, 0-4. 0 indicates lower level of distress and effects as related to nightmares.

  screening, visit 1 (week 0), visit 2 (week 2 +/- 1 week), visit 3 (week 4 +/- 1 week), visit 4 (week 6 +/- 1 week)

• Nightmare Frequency in the past week (change from nightmare frequency screening baseline at each 4 visits)

  Boxes numbered one to 31. Pt circles the number corresponding to the number of days they had a nightmare in the past month.

  screening, visit 1 (week 0), visit 2 (week 2 +/- 1 week), visit 3 (week 4 +/- 1 week), visit 4 (week 6 +/- 1 week)

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PTSD)

  screening, visit 1 (week 0), visit 2 (week 2 +/- 1 week), visit 3 (week 4 +/- 1 week), visit 4 (week 6 +/- 1 week)

• Beck Depression Inventory II

  screening, visit 1 (week 0), visit 2 (week 2 +/- 1 week), visit 3 (week 4 +/- 1 week), visit 4 (week 6 +/- 1 week)

• General Anxiety Disorder (anxiety)

  screening, visit 1 (week 0), visit 2 (week 2 +/- 1 week), visit 3 (week 4 +/- 1 week), visit 4 (week 6 +/- 1 week)

• Insomnia Severity Index (insomnia)

  screening, visit 1 (week 0), visit 2 (week 2 +/- 1 week), visit 3 (week 4 +/- 1 week), visit 4 (week 6 +/- 1 week)

Study Arms (2)

Intervention + Standard of care

EXPERIMENTAL

Nightmare Rescripting and Rehearsal: a 10 minute intervention for Primary Care plus Sleep Hygiene handout.

Behavioral: Nightmare Rescripting and Rehearsal; Behavioral: standard of care

Standard of care

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Standard of Care Sleep Hygiene handout alone.

Behavioral: standard of care

Interventions

Nightmare Rescripting and Rehearsal BEHAVIORAL

This study aims to test the efficacy of an abbreviated version of Imagery Rehearsal Therapy ('Nightmare Rescripting and Rehearsal Therapy' (NRRT)) administered by non-mental health professionals in a Primary Care setting.

Intervention + Standard of care

standard of care BEHAVIORAL

standard of care

Intervention + Standard of care; Standard of care

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Active Duty members and DoD beneficiaries.
• Aged 18 years or older
• Recurring disturbing dreams (at least three times per month for the past one month)
• Participants must score a 15 out of a possible 52 on the Nightmare Distress Questionnaire and Nightmare Frequency Tool in order to qualify.

You may not qualify if:

• Aged less than 18 years old
• Unwilling to refrain from taking an over the counter or prescription medication for the purpose of improving sleep during the course of the study.
• Participants that score less than a 15 out of a possible 52 on the Nightmare Distress Questionnaire and Nightmare Frequency will be excluded

Sponsors & Collaborators

• David Moss: lead

Study Sites (1)

Mike O'Callaghan Military Medical Center

Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, 89191, United States

Location

Related Publications (12)

• American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association.

  BACKGROUND

• Belicki K. (1992). The relationship of nightmare frequency to nightmare suffering with implications for treatment and research. Dreaming 2 143-148. 10.1037/h0094355

  BACKGROUND

• Böckermann, M., Gieselmann, A., & Pietrowsky, R. (2014). What does nightmare distress mean? Factorial structure and psychometric properties of the Nightmare Distress Questionnaire (NDQ). Dreaming, 24(4), 279-289. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037749

  BACKGROUND

• Collen JF, Williams SG, Lettieri CJ. Doomed to Repeat History: The Burden of Trauma-Related Nightmares in Military Personnel. J Clin Sleep Med. 2018 Mar 15;14(3):303-305. doi: 10.5664/jcsm.6964. No abstract available.

  PMID: 29458710 BACKGROUND

• Creamer JL, Brock MS, Matsangas P, Motamedi V, Mysliwiec V. Nightmares in United States Military Personnel With Sleep Disturbances. J Clin Sleep Med. 2018 Mar 15;14(3):419-426. doi: 10.5664/jcsm.6990.

  PMID: 29510796 BACKGROUND

• Harb, G. C., Forbes, D., Phelps, A., Gehrman, P. R., Cook, J. M., Gamble, G. & Ross, R. J. (2010). Treatment Manual for Imagery Rehearsal + cCBT for Insomnia.

  BACKGROUND

• Köthe, M. & Pietrowsky, R. (2001). Behavioral effects of nightmares and their correlations to personality patterns. Dreaming, 11, 43-52.

  BACKGROUND

• Krakow B, Kellner R, Neidhardt J, Pathak D, Lambert L. Imagery rehearsal treatment of chronic nightmares: with a thirty month follow-up. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 1993 Dec;24(4):325-30. doi: 10.1016/0005-7916(93)90057-4.

  PMID: 8077451 BACKGROUND

• Krakow B, Hollifield M, Schrader R, Koss M, Tandberg D, Lauriello J, McBride L, Warner TD, Cheng D, Edmond T, Kellner R. A controlled study of imagery rehearsal for chronic nightmares in sexual assault survivors with PTSD: a preliminary report. J Trauma Stress. 2000 Oct;13(4):589-609. doi: 10.1023/A:1007854015481.

  PMID: 11109233 BACKGROUND

• Levin R, Nielsen TA. Disturbed dreaming, posttraumatic stress disorder, and affect distress: a review and neurocognitive model. Psychol Bull. 2007 May;133(3):482-528. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.133.3.482.

  PMID: 17469988 BACKGROUND

• Pruiksma, K. E., Slavish, D., Wardle, S. Ojeda, A., Taylor, D., Peterson, A., Kelly, K., Maur, D., Mintz, J., Litz, B., Borah, E., Brundige, A., Young-McCaughan, S., Williamson, D. (2019). Prevalence and correlates of nightmares in Active Duty Service Members. Sleep, (42)1, A267. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsz067.667

  BACKGROUND

• Seda G, Sanchez-Ortuno MM, Welsh CH, Halbower AC, Edinger JD. Comparative meta-analysis of prazosin and imagery rehearsal therapy for nightmare frequency, sleep quality, and posttraumatic stress. J Clin Sleep Med. 2015 Jan 15;11(1):11-22. doi: 10.5664/jcsm.4354.

  PMID: 25325592 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Interventions

Standard of Care

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Quality Indicators, Health Care; Quality of Health Care; Health Services Administration; Health Care Quality, Access, and Evaluation

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: FED
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 21, 2020
• First Posted: August 27, 2020
• Study Start: January 21, 2021
• Primary Completion: December 9, 2025
• Study Completion: December 9, 2025
• Last Updated: December 18, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-12

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)