Development and Online Evaluation of an Online Course for Parasomnias

Condition(s) studied

Investigational drug(s) / intervention(s)

Parasomnia Education: Week 1: education about types of parasomnias and their causes Week 2: safety planning, relaxation training and imagery rehearsal therapy Week 3: Lucid dreaming, imagery rehearsal therapy, scheduled awakenings Week 4: cognitive therapy, review

Sleep Hygiene Control: Week 1: safety planning Week 2: caffeine, cannabis, alcohol, nicotine Week 3: exercising, napping, eating before bed Week 4: noise, light, temperature

Study summary

Parasomnias are unwanted events during sleep. These refer to sleep terrors, sleepwalking, sleep eating, nightmares, and movement during REM sleep. There are few systematic behavioral treatments for these problems and individuals with them often receive little education about self-management. This research examines and evaluates the effectiveness of a 4 week online course providing education and guidance about managing parasomnias. The primary outcomes are improvement in parasomnia frequency and distress. The secondary outcomes are improvements in work and social adjustment, mood, anxiety, stress level, fatigue, sleepiness, insomnia, and cognitive interference.

Eligibility

Primary outcome measure(s)

• self-reported parasomnia severity — baseline, week 4, week 6
  sleep diary recorded parasomnia severity rating (from 0 to 3, with 3 being most severe)
• self-reported parasomnia frequency — baseline, week 4, week 6
  frequency of parasomnia events per week (0 to 100)

Trial sites (1)

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