Digital CBT Found Effective for Reducing Insomnia During Pregnancy

Digital cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a safe and effective approach for reducing insomnia symptoms in pregnant women, reports astudy published today inJAMA Psychiatry.“Although sleep disturbance during pregnancy may be viewed as normative and innocuous, research indicates that it is associated with an increased risk of adverse maternal outcomes, including depression and preterm birth,” wrote Jennifer Felder, Ph.D., of the University of California, San Francis co, and colleagues. “A digital CBT-I [CBT for insomnia] program may be of particular interest for pregnant women, who report a preference for mental health care that includes flexible options and for whom timely intervention may be particularly important.”Felder and colleagues randomly assigned 208 women who were up to 28 weeks pregnant and had insomnia to receive either digital CBT-I or standard insomnia treatment for 10 weeks. The digital CBT-I program consisted of six weekly tutorials on topics including the following: proper sleep hygiene, relaxation techniques, and stimulus control (how to associate a bed as a cue for sleep). The CBT-I program provided automated reminders to complete each session and automated help based on a person ’s progress. The participants also had access to a moderated online community and a library of sleep education materials. The women receiving standard care had access to treatments including prescription/over-the-counter sleep medications, herbal remedies, counseling, a...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: anxiety CBT cbt-i cognitive behavioral therapy depression insomnia insomnia severity index JAMA Psychiatry online intervention pregnancy preterm birth Source Type: research