Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37716336›Full record

SynthesisSleep medicine2023

Behavioral and psychological treatments for NREM parasomnias: A systematic review.

Jennifer M Mundt, Matthew D Schuiling, Chloe Warlick, Jessica R Dietch, Annie B Wescott, Muriel Hagenaars, Ansgar Furst, Kazem Khorramdel, Kelly G Baron

Open access · greenAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Sleep medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
2.3field-weighted citation impact, top 12% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. The Future of Parasomnias.Journal of sleep research · 2025
    Review
  5. Sleep health of adults and children with Moebius syndrome.Research in developmental disabilities · 2025
    Article
  6. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 7 institutions in 3 countries.

Jennifer M MundtDepartment of Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Abbott Hall 11th Floor, 710 N Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA; Center for Circadian and Sleep Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, USA. Electronic address: jennifer.mundt@nm.org.
Matthew D SchuilingDepartment of Psychology, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, 402 N. Blackford St., LD 119, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA. Electronic address: mschuil@iu.edu.
Chloe WarlickDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, 710 N Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA. Electronic address: chloe.warlick@nm.org.
Jessica R DietchSchool of Psychological Science, Oregon State University, 2950 SW Jefferson Way, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA. Electronic address: jessee.dietch@oregonstate.edu.
Annie B WescottGalter Health Sciences Library and Learning Center, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, 303 E Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA. Electronic address: annie.wescott@northwestern.edu.
Muriel HagenaarsDepartment of Clinical Psychology, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 1, 3584 CS, Utrecht, Netherlands. Electronic address: m.a.hagenaars@uu.nl.
Ansgar FurstWar Related Illness and Injury Study Center, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, 3801 Miranda Ave, Mailcode 151Y, Palo Alto, CA, 94304, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, USA; Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, USA; Polytrauma System of Care, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, USA. Electronic address: ajfurst@stanford.edu.
Kazem KhorramdelDepartment of Psychology and Education Science, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Fars, 71345, Iran. Electronic address: khoramdel.psy@gmail.com.
Kelly G BaronDepartment of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of Utah, 375 Chipeta Way Suite A, Room 142, Salt Lake City, UT, 84108, USA. Electronic address: kelly.baron@utah.edu.
Northwestern University · USIndiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis · USOregon State University · USShiraz University · IRUniversity of Utah · USUtrecht University · NLVA Palo Alto Health Care System · US

Funding

Supplement to sleep health intervention for shift workersK23HL157698 · NHLBI · OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY · PI Jessica R Dietch · 2022 to 2026
$1.1M
NHLBI NIH HHS K23 HL157698
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundNon-rapid eye movement (NREM) parasomnias are often benign and transient, requiring no formal treatment. However, parasomnias can also be chronic, disrupt sleep quality, and pose a significant risk of harm to the patient or others. Numerous behavioral strategies have been described for the management of NREM parasomnias, but there have been no published comprehensive reviews. This systematic review was conducted to summarize the range of behavioral and psychological interventions and their efficacy.

methodsWe conducted a systematic search of the literature to identify all reports of behavioral and psychological treatments for NREM parasomnias (confusional arousals, sexsomnia, sleepwalking, sleep terrors, sleep-related eating disorder, parasomnia overlap disorder). This review was conducted in line with PRISMA guidelines. The protocol was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42021230360). The search was conducted in the following databases (initially on March 10, 2021 and updated February 24, 2023): Ovid (MEDLINE), Cochrane Library databases (Wiley), CINAHL (EBSCO), PsycINFO (EBSCO), and Web of Science (Clarivate). Given a lack of standardized quantitative outcome measures, a narrative synthesis approach was used. Risk of bias assessment used tools from Joanna Briggs Institute.

resultsA total of 72 publications in four languages were included, most of which were case reports (68%) or case series (21%). Children were included in 32 publications and adults in 44. The most common treatment was hypnosis (33 publications) followed by various types of psychotherapy (31), sleep hygiene (19), education/reassurance (15), relaxation (10), scheduled awakenings (9), sleep extension/scheduled naps (9), and mindfulness (5). Study designs and inconsistent outcome measures limited the evidence for specific treatments, but some evidence supports multicomponent CBT, sleep hygiene, scheduled awakenings, and hypnosis.

conclusionsThis review highlights the wide breadth of behavioral and psychological interventions for managing NREM parasomnias. Evidence for the efficacy of these treatments is limited by the retrospective and uncontrolled nature of most research as well as the infrequent use of validated quantitative outcome measures. Behavioral and psychological treatments have been studied alone and in various combinations, and recent publications suggest a trend toward preference for multicomponent cognitive behavioral therapies designed to specifically target priming and precipitating factors of NREM parasomnias.

Indexed as

Night TerrorsParasomniasSleep Arousal DisordersSomnambulismAdultChildHumansRetrospective StudiesConfusional arousalParasomniaSexsomniaSleep-related eatingSleep terrorSleepwalking

Identifiers

PMID37716336
PMCPMC10591847
OpenAlexW4386484166

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.