Relaxation therapy for insomnia: nighttime and day time effects

Abstract

We compared day time functioning in college students with and without insomnia and explored changes in day time functioning after progressive relaxation (PR) treatment for insomnia. Students with insomnia (SWI; n=57) were compared to a control group of students not complaining of insomnia (SNI; n=61) on self-reported sleep variables and five questionnaires: Insomnia Impact Scale (IIS), Dysfunctional Beliefs and Attitudes About Sleep Scale (DBAS), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), and Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ). SWI demonstrated significant impairment on all day time functioning and sleep measures compared to SNI. To investigate treatment effects on day time functioning, 28 SWI were randomly assigned to PR. Treated SWI were compared to untreated SWI and SNI at posttreatment. Treated participants improved sleep in comparison to untreated SWI, but failed to show significant improvements in day time functioning. Insomnia treatments focused on improving sleep may not improve day time functioning, or day time gains may emerge more slowly than sleep gains. This study documents the wide range of day time functioning complaints in young adults with insomnia and suggests that the goal of insomnia treatment should be to not only improve sleep but also to improve the subjective experience of day time functioning.