Comparative Effectiveness of Three Lucid Dreaming and Sleep Hygiene Techniques

November 7, 2019 updated by: Sharon Gutman, Columbia University

Comparative Effectiveness of Three Lucid Dreaming and Sleep Hygiene Techniques to Reduce Stress in Graduate Students on Clinical Internship

In this study, the investigators will compare traditional lucid dream induction techniques, stress reduction strategies, and sleep hygiene across three study groups: (1) lucid dream and stress reduction techniques, and sleep hygiene; (2) lucid dream reduction and sleep hygiene; and (3) sleep hygiene. Participants will be first-year occupational therapy students embarking upon their first full-time 3-month clinical internship. Enrolled participants will be randomized to one of the three groups. The intervention will span 12 weeks and allow for participants to learn about and practice lucid dream induction, stress management, and sleep hygiene in bi-monthly online group sessions and through daily home exercises.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

A significant impediment to completing academic health care programs is student stress level, which have been reported to be increasing in the last decade. Many students are not prepared for the rigor and intensity of their first clinical internship and experience exacerbations of stress and anxiety at this time. There is evidence that lucid dream induction methods have effectively alleviated stress and anxiety in veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression in community dwelling adults. Although lucid dream techniques have been used to manage anxiety in some populations, it has never been used to help health care students on clinical internship experiencing heightened stress levels. In this study, the investigators aim to determine whether lucid dream induction techniques combined with stress management and sleep hygiene could effectively help students on their first clinical internship to better manage stress and anxiety. The investigators hope to gain a greater understanding of which of three study conditions can best alleviate stress and anxiety in participants.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

28

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • New York
      • New York, New York, United States, 10032
        • Columbia University

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

21 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Current occupational therapy student attending Columbia University and participating in clinical internship

Exclusion Criteria:

  • none

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE
  • Allocation: RANDOMIZED
  • Interventional Model: PARALLEL
  • Masking: NONE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: LUCID DREAMING, STRESS REDUCTION, SLEEP HYGIENE

This group will meet for 6 online sessions, every other week, over the 12-week study. Each online session will run for 1 hour. Each of the 6 sessions will consist of the following:

  • Psychoeducation regarding lucid dreaming, stress reduction, and sleep hygiene
  • Practice of lucid dreaming induction techniques
  • Guided visualization
  • Opportunity for participants to discuss their experience with lucid dreaming induction techniques, adherence to the lucid dreaming home exercise program and tracking log, using their dream diaries, and adherence to the sleep hygiene program and tracking log.
Lucid dream techniques are a set of strategies to induce the ability to obtain conscious awareness during the dream state and include mental suggestions before sleep.
Stress reduction techniques are a set of strategies designed to reduce anxiety and include meditation and guided imagery.
Sleep hygiene is a set of techniques intended to enhance sleep quality and quantity and include maintaining consistent sleep-wake times and avoiding stimulating activities before bed.
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: LUCID DREAMING, SLEEP HYGIENE

This group will meet for 6 online sessions, every other week, over the 12-week study. Each online session will run for 1 hour. Each of the 6 sessions will consist of the following:

  • Psychoeducation regarding lucid dreaming and sleep hygiene
  • Practice of lucid dreaming induction techniques
  • Guided visualization
  • Opportunity for participants to discuss their experience with lucid dreaming induction techniques, adherence to the lucid dreaming home exercise program and tracking log, using their dream diaries, and adherence to the sleep hygiene program and tracking log.
Lucid dream techniques are a set of strategies to induce the ability to obtain conscious awareness during the dream state and include mental suggestions before sleep.
Sleep hygiene is a set of techniques intended to enhance sleep quality and quantity and include maintaining consistent sleep-wake times and avoiding stimulating activities before bed.
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: SLEEP HYGIENE

This group will meet for 2 online group sessions and 4 email communications. The 2 online group sessions will each last 1 hour and occur in weeks 1 and 12. The 4 email communications will occur in weeks 3, 5, 7, and 9 and consist of individual communication between each participant and the PI or co-investigator. Each email communication will require 10 minutes of participants' time.

The control group will be asked to engage in Sleep Hygiene techniques in which they adhere to a recommended protocol and record their adherence in a Sleep Hygiene Tracking Log, requiring 5 minutes per day.

Through the 2 online sessions and the individual email with the investigators, participants will have the opportunity to discuss their experience with adherence to the sleep hygiene program and tracking log. Investigators will help participants trouble shoot problems adhering to the sleep hygiene protocol.

Sleep hygiene is a set of techniques intended to enhance sleep quality and quantity and include maintaining consistent sleep-wake times and avoiding stimulating activities before bed.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Perceived Stress Scale
Time Frame: Week 12
The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) is a 10-item, 6-point, self-report Likert scale (0 = no stress, 5 = high stress) that requires 5 minutes to complete. The scale yields a total score ranging from 0 (no stress) to 50 (highest stress) with scores 25+ indicating a possible stress disorder. The PSS measures stress level in the last month and was intended for use by community-dwelling adults.
Week 12

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Lucidity and Consciousness Dream Scale
Time Frame: Week 12
The Lucidity and Consciousness Dream Scale (LuCiD) is a 28-item, 6-point self-report Likert scale (0 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree) that requires 10 minutes to complete. The scale yields a total score ranging from 0 (no experience of lucid dreaming) to 140 (highest experience of lucid dreaming) with scores 70+ indicating moderate to high lucid dream activity.
Week 12

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Sharon Gutman, PhD, OTR, FAOTA, Columbia University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (ACTUAL)

June 1, 2019

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

September 21, 2019

Study Completion (ACTUAL)

September 21, 2019

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 11, 2019

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 11, 2019

First Posted (ACTUAL)

April 12, 2019

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ACTUAL)

November 8, 2019

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 7, 2019

Last Verified

November 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • AAAS3098

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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