Psychological Interventions for Students With Insomnia

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Compared With Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to Improve Sleep and Mental Health in University Students With Insomnia

This study looked at university students who had trouble sleeping and compared two different programs designed to help with insomnia. One program was mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), which focuses on meditation and awareness techniques, and the other was cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), a structured approach that teaches strategies to change thoughts and habits around sleep. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the two programs. The researchers wanted to see how each program affected insomnia symptoms and related factors like stress, anxiety, mood, and overall quality of life. The researchers expected that CBT-I would lead to faster improvements right after the program, but they also believed that the mindfulness program would work just as well in the longer term, notably, three months after treatment.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Male and female students aged 18 to 35 years from Université Laval;
• Meet the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th Version (DSM-5) criteria for insomnia disorder;
• Report at least one consequence of insomnia on daytime functioning;
• Are available and committed to attending group therapy sessions of approximately 1.5 hours each, held over 8 consecutive weeks.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Presence of another major psychiatric disorder or other sleep disorder that could explain the insomnia symptoms;
• Presence of a serious medical condition (e.g., chronic pain);
• Previous participation in cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) or prior completion of a mindfulness-based program (e.g., mindfulness-based stress reduction [MBSR], mindfulness-based cognitive therapy [MBCT]);
• Refusal to discontinue the use of substances (e.g., over-the-counter sleep aids, marijuana, alcohol) for the sole purpose of sleep aids for the duration of the study;
• Having a highly irregular sleep schedule (e.g., going to bed almost every night after 1:00 a.m. and waking up after 10:00 a.m.).