Bibliotherapy Combined With Games to Reduce Fear of the Dark in Young Children

NCT07067320 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: DPS.MOA.210423
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 39
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Intense fear of the dark is a common issue among children, which can interfere with their daily functioning at family, social, and academic levels. This study aims to analyse the effectiveness of a psychotherapeutic intervention based on bibliotherapy combined with play to overcome the fear of the dark in children between 4 and 8 years old. A total of 38 children participated, who were assigned to the experimental and control conditions on the waiting list. The bibliotherapy intervention in the experimental condition involved reading a book and playing the games proposed in each chapter. The intervention was applied by parents at home with their children (during 4-5 weeks) and contained cognitive-behavioural techniques, such as gradual in vivo exposure, relaxation techniques, modelling and positive reinforcement, among others. It is expected that children's nighttime fears will decrease significantly and there will be significant improvements in nighttime behaviour.

Conditions

Bibliotherapy; Fear of the Dark; Nighttime Fears

Keywords

Nighttime fears; Bibliotherapy; Psychological treatment; Clinical trial

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Nighttime fears

  Parent Version of the Nighttime Fears Scale (NFS-P): The NFS-P assesses school-age children's level of fear at night, as reported by their parents. It contains four subscales: fear of nighttime features and distressing experiences (stimuli associated with darkness), fear of loss or separation from family (loss or non-presence of attachment figures and other family members), fear of imaginary stimuli (non-factual stimuli that may be likely to cause fear) and fear of real stimuli. It consists of 21 items that ask about night-time situations that are likely to cause fear in children. These items have a 5-point response scale, ranging from 0 (Not at all) to 4 (Very much). The higher the score, the greater the intensity of night-time fears.

  Pre- and post-intervention assessment (treatment lasts 4-5 weeks). There will also be a follow-up assessment 12 months after the end of the intervention.

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Nighttime functioning

  From enrollment to the end of treatment at 4-5 weeks

• Nighttime functioning

  Pre- and post-intervention assessment (treatment lasts 4-5 weeks). There will also be a follow-up assessment 12 months after the end of the intervention.

• Adaptive nocturnal behaviours

  Pre- and post-intervention assessment (treatment lasts 4-5 weeks). There will also be a follow-up assessment 12 months after the end of the intervention.

Study Arms (2)

Experimental group receiving bibliotherapeutic intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

Bibliotherapy combined with games to overcome fear of the dark

Behavioral: Bibliotherapy combined with games to overcome fear of the dark

Waiting list control group (receiving intervention at the end of treatment with experimental group)

NO INTERVENTION

Interventions

Bibliotherapy combined with games to overcome fear of the dark BEHAVIORAL

Bibliotherapy combined with games, applied by parents at home. Treatment based on cognitive-behavioural techniques. Duration: 4-5 weeks. Experimental group recived this bibliotherapeutic intervention.

Experimental group receiving bibliotherapeutic intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 3 Years - 8 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• Being between 4 and 8 years old
• Obtaining a score of 32 or higher on the Parent Version of the Nighttime Fears Scale (NFS-P; Orgilés et al., 2024)

You may not qualify if:

• Not being within the established age range
• Scoring less than 31on the Parent Version of the Nighttime Fears Scale (NFS-P; Orgilés et al., 2024)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Universidad Miguel Hernandez de Elche: lead

Study Sites (1)

Universidad Miguel Hernández

Elche, Alicante, 03202, Spain

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Nyctophobia

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Dr.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 11, 2025
• First Posted: July 16, 2025
• Study Start: April 24, 2023
• Primary Completion: October 18, 2024
• Study Completion: October 18, 2024
• Last Updated: July 16, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-07

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

ES (1)