ArticleJournal of sleep research2021
Telephone-guided imagery rehearsal therapy for nightmares: Efficacy and mediator of change.
Article in Journal of sleep research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 2 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
6 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Psychosocial treatments for nightmares in adults and children: a systematic review.BMC psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- Nightmares and psychiatric symptoms: A systematic review of longitudinal, experimental, and clinical trial studies.Clinical psychology review · 2023Pooled it
- Status of Imagery Rehearsal Therapy and Other Interventions for Nightmare Treatment in PTSD.Current psychiatry reports · 2025Review
- Mental Health Care Guidelines for Telemedicine During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Scoping Review.JMIR mental health · 2025Article
- The long wave of COVID-19: a case report using Imagery Rehearsal Therapy for COVID-19-related nightmares after admission to intensive care unit.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
- Telephone-guided imagery rehearsal therapy for nightmares: Efficacy and mediator of change.Journal of sleep research · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The currently best-supported psychological treatment for nightmares is imagery rehearsal therapy. The problem, however, is that not enough trained practitioners are available to offer this treatment. A possible solution is to conduct imagery rehearsal therapy in a guided self-help format. In the current study, 70 participants with nightmares according to the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders were randomized to either telephone-guided imagery rehearsal therapy (n = 36) or a wait-list condition (n = 34). Participants in the imagery rehearsal therapy condition received three sessions over the course of 5 weeks. Every treatment session was followed by telephone support delivered by postgraduate students. Participants who received imagery rehearsal therapy showed larger improvements on nightmare frequency (d = 1.03; p < .05), nightmare distress (d = 0.75; p < .05) and insomnia severity (d = 1.12; p < .001) compared with the participants in the wait-list condition. The effects were sustained at 3- and 6-month follow-up. No significant effects were observed on the number of nights with nightmares per week, anxiety and depression. In line with earlier reports, the treatment effect was mediated by the increase of mastery at mid-treatment, underlining the mechanistic value of mastery in imagery rehearsal therapy. The present study demonstrates that it is possible to deliver imagery rehearsal therapy in a self-help format supported by unexperienced therapists and with relatively little time investment. This opens possibilities in terms of cost-effectiveness, scalability and dissemination of imagery rehearsal therapy in the treatment of nightmares.
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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.