Decreasing Nightmares in Adults With Narcolepsy (DAWN)

July 14, 2026 updated by: Jennifer Mundt, University of Utah

Imagery Rehearsal Therapy for the Treatment of Nightmares in Narcolepsy: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

The purpose of this clinical trial is learn whether a behavioral (non-medication) treatment can reduce nightmares in adults with narcolepsy. All participants will receive the treatment and will complete three assessments. Half of the participants will receive the treatment after the first assessment, and half will receive it after the second assessment. Romantic partners of participants with narcolepsy will also be eligible to enroll in the study. Partners will complete three assessments but will not participate in the treatment.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

80

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 Contact

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Utah
      • Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, 84108
        • Recruiting
        • University of Utah
        • Contact:

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

PARTICIPANTS WITH NARCOLEPSY/NIGHTMARES

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosis of narcolepsy type 1 or narcolepsy type 2
  • Nightmare frequency of ≥1 times per week
  • Age 18 or older
  • Able to speak, read, and write in English
  • Live in the United States
  • Sleep and psychiatric medications stable for ≥ 1 month and willing to keep medications stable for the duration of the study

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Currently engaged in trauma- or sleep-related psychotherapy
  • Previous behavioral treatment for nightmares
  • Medical, psychiatric, or cognitive condition which would interfere with ability to engage in the treatment
  • Untreated moderate-severe sleep apnea

PARTICIPANTS WHO ARE PARTNERS OF SOMEONE WITH NARCOLEPSY

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Live with a romantic partner who meets the above criteria and has agreed to participate in the study
  • Age 18 or older
  • Able to speak, read, and write in English
  • Live in the United States

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: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Treatment
The Treatment arm will receive the intervention immediately following the first assessment.
Behavioral: Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT)
The intervention will consist of 7 therapy sessions (once per week for 7 weeks) which will be delivered via videoconference. During the sessions, participants will learn techniques for managing and changing nightmares.
Other Names:
  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Nightmares (CBT-N)
Other: Waitlist
The Waitlist arm will undergo a waiting period following the first assessment and then will receive the treatment after the second assessment.
Behavioral: Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT)
The intervention will consist of 7 therapy sessions (once per week for 7 weeks) which will be delivered via videoconference. During the sessions, participants will learn techniques for managing and changing nightmares.
Other Names:
  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Nightmares (CBT-N)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Disturbing Dream and Nightmare Severity Index (DDNSI)
Time Frame: Completed at each of the three assessments (baseline, 10 weeks, 19 weeks)
The DDNSI is a questionnaire which measures the severity of nightmares.
Completed at each of the three assessments (baseline, 10 weeks, 19 weeks)
Nightmare frequency (sleep diary)
Time Frame: Completed at each of the three assessments (baseline, 10 weeks, 19 weeks)
The number of nightmares experienced each day will be collected on daily sleep diaries completed during each assessment period.
Completed at each of the three assessments (baseline, 10 weeks, 19 weeks)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
PROMIS Anxiety
Time Frame: Completed at each of the three assessments (baseline, 10 weeks, 19 weeks)
Questionnaire which measures the severity of anxiety symptoms.
Completed at each of the three assessments (baseline, 10 weeks, 19 weeks)
PROMIS Depression
Time Frame: Completed at each of the three assessments (baseline, 10 weeks, 19 weeks)
Questionnaire which measures the severity of depressive symptoms.
Completed at each of the three assessments (baseline, 10 weeks, 19 weeks)

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Utah

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

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)

July 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

September 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

September 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 22, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 22, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

April 25, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 15, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 14, 2026

Last Verified

July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • IRB_00188162
  • 372-SR-25 (Other Grant/Funding Number: American Academy of Sleep Medicine Foundation)

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

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

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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