Treating Acute Insomnia: A Randomized Controlled Trial of a “Single-Shot” of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia
Open accessAbstract
STUDY OBJECTIVES: Despite considerable evidence supporting cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) for chronic insomnia, it remains untested within the context of acute insomnia. This study examined the efficacy of a single session of CBT-I, with an accompanying self-help pamphlet, for individuals with acute insomnia. DESIGN: A pragmatic parallel group randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Community. PARTICIPANTS: Forty adults (mean age 32.9 ± 13.72 y) with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) defined insomnia disorder, except a self-reported duration of less than 3 mo (i.e., acute insomnia), who reported no previous exposure to CBT-I and were not currently taking medication for sleep. INTERVENTIONS: A single 60- to 70-min session of CBT-I (n = 20), with an accompanying self-help pamphlet, or wait list control group (n = 20). All subjects were offered a full individual course of CBT-I on completion of the study, regardless of group allocation. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Subjects completed sleep diaries and the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) pretreatment and 1 mo following treatment. There were no between-group differences on baseline ISI scores or subjective sleep continuity. The intervention group reported significantly lower ISI scores than controls (t(38) 2.24, P < 0.05) at follow-up. Further, using proposed ISI scores for identifying insomnia caseness (i.e., ≥ 10), 60% of those in the CBT-I group had remitted by 1 mo compared to 15% of those in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: This single session of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is sufficiently efficacious for a significant proportion of those with acute insomnia. The results are discussed in terms of integrating this brief form of CBT-I into the "stepped care" model of insomnia. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Testing the efficacy of an early intervention for acute insomnia (SRCTN05891695) http://www.controlled-trials.com/ISRCTN05891695.
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Various methods of delivery and session structures of CBTi have been shown to be efficacious, such as group interventions, online and a single shot.
“Furthermore, various methods of delivery and session structures have been shown to be efficacious, such as group interventions, online and a single shot [91].”
From A systematic review and meta-analysis of poor sleep, insomnia symptoms and stress in undergraduate students (2022) · cites this paper as [91]
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for insomnia (CBTi) interventions alleviate insomnia symptoms.
“Currently a wealth of knowledge demonstrates the efficacy of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for insomnia (CBTi) interventions to alleviate insomnia symptoms [90,91].”
From A systematic review and meta-analysis of poor sleep, insomnia symptoms and stress in undergraduate students (2022) · cites this paper as [91]
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- Authors
- Ellis, J. G., Cushing, T., & Germain, A.
- Affiliations
- Northumbria University (GB)
- University of Pittsburgh (US)
- Corresponding author
- Ellis, Jason G.
- Venue
- SLEEP
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2015-06-01
- Volume
- 38
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 971-8
- ISSN
- 0161-8105 (ISSN-L)
- 1550-9109
- PMC
- PMC4434564
- OpenAlex
- W570222340
- Cited by
- 130
- References
- 22
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 3
- FWCI
- 13.60
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- SLEEP (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Northumbria Research Link (Northumbria University) (acceptedVersion)
- Newcastle University ePrints (Newcastle Univesity)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (UL1TR000005)
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
- UCB Pharma
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and related disorders
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychological Treatments and Assessments
- Keywords
- acute insomnia, cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, single-session intervention, brief psychotherapy, insomnia severity, stepped care, insomnia remission, early intervention
- MeSH terms
- Acute Disease, Adult, Female, Humans, Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders, Male, Pamphlets, Patient Education as Topic, Sleep, Waiting Lists, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Self Report
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