{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,27]],"date-time":"2026-02-27T07:31:34Z","timestamp":1772177494230,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,27]],"date-time":"2026-02-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1772150400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100008569","name":"Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100008569","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Sleep"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Theories of chronic nightmare maintenance highlight dysfunctional beliefs about sleep and nightmares, distress and arousal, anticipatory anxiety, maladaptive sleep habits, and sleep deprivation as perpetuating factors that maintain nightmare disorder over time. Theories of nightmare treatment suggest that self-efficacy is a common factor in nightmare mitigation. The current article introduces DARC-NESS, a multi-component theory of nightmare maintenance that emphasizes nightmare self-efficacy as a central mechanism influencing the maintenance cycle at multiple points. DARC-NESS is a mnemonic for the model's components: Dream (nightmare) content, Appraisals, Resources for regulation, Conditioned arousal, Nightmare Efficacy, Sleep hygiene and patterns, and Sleep quality and quantity, that interact to perpetuate nightmares. This model provides the theoretical basis for cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for child nightmares. The manuscript proposes treatment counterparts to each model component and presents a case illustration demonstrating how these interventions can disrupt the vicious cycle of chronic nightmares. Finally, flexible clinical applications are offered to guide clinicians in selecting and sequencing modular intervention elements to match individual case presentations.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/frsle.2026.1772987","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,27]],"date-time":"2026-02-27T05:25:00Z","timestamp":1772169900000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["DARC-NESS: a mastery-based cognitive-behavioral model for treating chronic nightmares in youth"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"5","author":[{"given":"Lisa DeMarni","family":"Cromer","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, The University of Tulsa","place":["Tulsa, OK, United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Emily Kaier","family":"Cromwell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Services, University of Rochester Medical Center","place":["Rochester, NY, United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lauren E.","family":"Prince","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, The University of Tulsa","place":["Tulsa, OK, United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Tara R.","family":"Buck","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychiatry, The University of Oklahoma School of Community Medicine","place":["Tulsa, OK, United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","volume-title":"International Classification of Sleep Disorders, 3rd Edn","year":"2014"},{"key":"B2","year":"2022","journal-title":"Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edn. 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