Digital cognitive behavioral therapy as a novel treatment for insomnia

• DOI: 10.5498/wjp.v15.i4.104042
• Publication Date: 2025-03-25T05:13:51Z
• Authors: Xu-Tong Tian; Yao Meng; Ru-Lan Wang; Rong Tan; Mei-Shan Liu; Wen Xu; Shuai Cui; Yun-Xiang Tang; Meng-Yang He; Wen-Peng Cai

BACKGROUND As a substitute for traditional drug therapy, digital cognitive-behavioral therapy positively impacts the regulation of brain function, which can improve insomnia. However, there is currently a paucity of studies on digital cognitive behavioral therapy as a treatment for insomnia. AIM To assess digital cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia regarding its positive impact on brain function. METHODS Participants were randomly assigned to either a go/no-go group or a dot-probe group. The primary outcome was quality of sleep as assessed by the actigraphy sleep monitoring bracelet, Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI), insomnia severity index (ISI), and depression anxiety and stress scale (DASS-21). RESULTS Eighty patients were included in the analysis (go/no-go group: n = 40; dot-probe group: n = 40). We combined the total scale scores of the two groups before and after the intervention in the analysis of covariance. Our study explored whether insomnia symptoms in both groups can be improved by using digital cognitive behavioral therapy instead of trying to compare the two trials; therefore, only one P value is listed. In both groups, we found a short-term time effect on insomnia symptom severity (PSQI: P < 0.001, η 2 = 0.336; ISI: P < 0.001, η 2 = 0.667; DASS-depression: P < 0.001, η 2 = 0.582; DASS-anxiety: P < 0.001, η 2 = 0.337; DASS-stress: P < 0.001, η 2 = 0.443) and some effect on sleep efficiency (but it was not significant, P = 0.585, η 2 = 0.004). CONCLUSION Go/no-go task training of inhibitory function had a short-term positive effect on sleep efficiency, whereas dot-probe task training had a positive short-term effect on emotion regulation.