SynthesisClinical psychology review2012
A meta-analysis of imagery rehearsal for post-trauma nightmares: effects on nightmare frequency, sleep quality, and posttraumatic stress.
Synthesis in Clinical psychology review, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 51 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
51 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 180 citations in OpenAlex.
- Nightmares and psychiatric symptoms: A systematic review of longitudinal, experimental, and clinical trial studies.Clinical psychology review · 2023Pooled it
- A meta-analysis of group cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia.Sleep medicine reviews · 2015Pooled it
- Comparative meta-analysis of prazosin and imagery rehearsal therapy for nightmare frequency, sleep quality, and posttraumatic stress.Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine · 2015Pooled it
- Impact of an internet-based insomnia intervention on suicidal ideation and associated correlates in veterans at elevated suicide risk.Translational behavioral medicine · 2024Trial
- Imagery rehearsal therapy and/or mianserin in treatment of refugees diagnosed with PTSD: Results from a randomized controlled trial.Journal of sleep research · 2021Trial
- A pilot randomized controlled trial of cognitive behavioral treatment for trauma-related nightmares in active duty military personnel.Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine · 2020Trial
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Nightmares for Patients with Persecutory Delusions (Nites): An Assessor-Blind, Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie · 2019Trial
- Randomized Controlled Trial of Imagery Rehearsal for Posttraumatic Nightmares in Combat Veterans.Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine · 2019Trial
- Guided imagery targeting exercise, food cravings, and stress: a multi-modal randomized feasibility trial.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2018Trial
- Treatment of sleep disturbances in trauma-affected refugees: Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.Trials · 2017Trial
- Augmenting cognitive processing therapy to improve sleep impairment in PTSD: A randomized controlled trial.Journal of consulting and clinical psychology · 2016Trial
- Enhancing primary care detection and referral of nightmare disorder: a quality improvement initiative : Journal name: Sleep and Breathing.Sleep & breathing = Schlaf & Atmung · 2026Article
- Efficacy of imagery rehearsal therapy in the treatment of traumatic nightmares in youth with complex post-traumatic stress disorder.Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine · 2026Review
- Association of Sleep Quality, Sleep Disturbances, and Chronotype with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Earthquake-Exposed Adolescents.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Perceived sleep disturbance in healthy women with a history of childhood emotional abuse is not reflected in objective sleep measures or nocturnal heart rate variability.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Sleep and Dreams as Reflected by Science Fiction Literature and Films-Anything to Learn From?Journal of sleep research · 2025Review
- Treating war- and conflict-related nightmares in children and youth: outcomes of a school-based intervention.Frontiers in sleep · 2025Article
- Characteristics of sleep disturbance across two waves of the COVID-19 pandemic among nursing staffs.Sleep medicine: X · 2024Article
- Understanding nightmares after traumatic events in Detroit (UNiTED): prospective associations with interpersonal violence and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2024Article
- Sleep Disturbances Associated With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.Psychiatric annals · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
This meta-analysis evaluates the efficacy of imagery rehearsal as a treatment for nightmares, general sleep disturbance, and symptoms of post-traumatic stress. Bibliographic databases and cited references were searched to identify clinical trials of imagery rehearsal in individuals with post-trauma nightmares. Thirteen studies met inclusion criteria and reported sleep and post-traumatic stress outcomes in sufficient detail to calculate effect sizes. Results indicate that imagery rehearsal had large effects on nightmare frequency, sleep quality, and PTSD symptoms from the initial to post-treatment assessments. These effects were sustained through 6 to 12 months follow-up. Furthermore, interventions that included both imagery rehearsal and cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia resulted in greater treatment-related improvement in sleep quality than imagery rehearsal alone. Combined treatment did not improve outcomes for PTSD or nightmares. Notably, effect sizes were small in the single study that included an active-treatment control condition. Future research should identify necessary and sufficient components of interventions for trauma-related sleep disturbance and post-traumatic stress (e.g., exposure, cognitive reappraisal, sleep and circadian regulation).
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.