Biomedical subjects

Victor I Spoormaker

Publications and source records attributed to Victor I Spoormaker.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Lucid dreaming treatment for nightmares: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND: The goal of this pilot study was to evaluate the effects of the cognitive-restructuring technique 'lucid dreaming treatment' (LDT) on chronic nightmares. Becoming lucid (realizing that one is dreaming) during a nightmare allows one to alter the nightmare storyline during the nightmare itself. METHODS: After having filled out a sleep and a posttraumatic stress disorder questionnaire, 23 nightmare sufferers were randomly divided into 3 groups; 8 participants received one 2-hour individual LDT session, 8 participants received one 2-hour group LDT session, and 7 participants were placed on the waiting list. LDT consisted of exposure, mastery, and lucidity exercises. Participants filled out the same questionnaires 12 weeks after the intervention (follow-up). RESULTS: At follow-up the nightmare frequency of both treatment groups had decreased. There were no significant changes in sleep quality and posttraumatic stress disorder symptom severity. Lucidity was not necessary for a reduction in nightmare frequency. CONCLUSIONS: LDT seems effective in reducing nightmare frequency, although the primary therapeutic component (i.e. exposure, mastery, or lucidity) remains unclear.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Nightmares: from anxiety symptom to sleep disorder.

The DSM-IV-TR definition of nightmares-extremely frightening dreams from which the person wakes up directly-is unnecessarily narrow. Other emotions (anger, grief) have also been reported in nightmares, and direct awakening from a bad dream seems to be unrelated to increased distress. In addition, assessment of nightmares is problematic. Polysomnographic recordings have an ameliorating effect on nightmare frequency, retrospective measurements tend to underestimate nightmare frequency, and persons with frequent nightmares may feel reluctant to fill out (daily) prospective measurements. For studying nightmares, it is necessary to distinguish idiopathic nightmares from posttraumatic nightmares, which are part of a posttraumatic stress reaction or disorder that may result from experiencing a traumatic event. Both types of nightmares have been associated with an elevated level of periodic limb movements, although only posttraumatic nightmares seem to be related to more and longer nocturnal awakenings. Nightmares have also been repeatedly associated with the general level of psychopathology, or the so-called personality factor neuroticism. Nightmare distress, the impact on daily functioning caused by nightmares, may function as a mediating variable. Several studies in the last decades have shown that nightmares can be treated with several cognitive-behavioral techniques. The cognitive-restructuring technique imagery rehearsal therapy is the treatment of choice for nightmares, although a randomized controlled trial with an attention control-group has not yet been carried out. Nightmares are more than a symptom of a larger (anxiety) syndrome and need to be viewed from a sleep medicine perspective: nightmares are a highly prevalent and separate sleep disorder that can and should receive specific treatment.

Anxiety↗

PubMed2005

Depression and anxiety complaints; relations with sleep disturbances.

Objectives were to assess the relations of various sleep complaints with depressive and anxiety complaints in a non-clinical population. Four-hundred-and-two randomly approached adults received three questionnaires. Results showed a high interrelatedness between sleep and depressive/anxiety complaints. Both assessment and treatment of depressive and anxiety complaints should address sleep problems.

Anxiety↗

PubMed2005

Initial validation of the SLEEP-50 questionnaire.

Initial psychometric properties of the SLEEP-50 questionnaire, designed to detect sleep disorders as listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., Text Revision), were examined. The sample consisted of 377 college students, 246 sleep patients, 32 nightmare sufferers, and 44 healthy volunteers. The internal consistency was high (Cronbach's alpha = .85); test-retest correlations fell between .65 and .89. Principal component analysis with a direct oblimin rotation revealed a factor structure that closely matched the designed structure. Sensitivity and specificity scores were promising for all sleep disorders; the agreement between all clinical diagnoses and SLEEP-50-classifications was substantial (kappa = .77). These initial findings indicate that the SLEEP-50 seems able to detect a variety of sleep disorders. The SLEEP-50 can aid in screening for common sleep disorders in the general population.

Adolescent↗