The Effects of CBT on Objective Sleep

By Dr. Gregg D. Jacobs
December 17, 2004

There is now significant evidence that cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is effective for the treatment of insomnia. However, few studies have specifically examined the effects of CBT on sleep architecture since most outcome studies, including pharmacotherapy studies, use sleep diaries as the primary dependent measure.

In a recent issue of the Journal of Sleep Research (2004, 13, 385-393) Dr. Katerina Cervena and colleagues measured the effects of CBT on insomnia patients using polysomnography and power spectral analyses of sleep stages before and after treatment. The researches found that CBT produced significant reductions in sleep onset latency (57%) and wake time after sleep onset (77%) and produced significant improvements in sleep efficiency (28%). CBT also produced significant increases in total sleep time (29%). Additionally, power spectral analyses revealed significant increases in slow wave sleep power. Although this study did not include a control group, there is little evidence that placebo effects produce significant improvements in sleep, particularly objective improvements.

In summary, this study demonstrates that CBT produces significant improvements in objective sleep.