Novel Treatment Based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Versus Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia: A Randomized Comparative Effectiveness Trial in Women Veterans

Objective: This randomized comparative effectiveness trial evaluated a novel insomnia treatment using acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) among women veterans. Participants received either the acceptance and the behavioral changes to treat insomnia (ABC-I) or cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I). The primary objectives were to determine whether ABC-I was noninferior to CBT-I in improving sleep and to test whether ABC-I resulted in higher treatment completion and adherence versus CBT-I. Method: One hundred forty-nine women veterans with insomnia disorder (M-age = 48.0 years) received ABC-I or CBT-I. The main sleep outcomes were Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and sleep efficiency (SE) by actigraphy (objective) and sleep diary (subjective). Measures were collected at baseline, immediate posttreatment, and 3-month posttreatment follow-up. Treatment completion and adherence were assessed during the interventions. Results: Both interventions improved all sleep outcomes from baseline to immediate posttreatment and 3-month posttreatment follow-up. At immediate posttreatment, ABC-I was statically noninferior for sleep diary SE and objective SE, but noninferiority was not statistically confirmed for ISI or PSQI total scores. At 3-month posttreatment follow-up, ABC-I was noninferior for all four of the key outcome variables. There was not a statistically significant difference between the number of participants who discontinued CBT-I (11%) versus ABC-I (18%; p = .248) before completing treatment. ABC-I was superior to CBT-I for some adherence metrics. Conclusions: Overall, ABC-I was similar in effectiveness compared to CBT-I for the treatment of insomnia and may improve adherence to some behavioral elements of treatment.

Automated summary

This study evaluated the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) for treating insomnia in women veterans through a randomized comparative trial. The results showed that both the ACT and cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) interventions were effective in improving sleep outcomes, although ABC-I was noninferior to CBT-I only for some sleep measures. ABC-I was superior to CBT-I in terms of treatment adherence. Overall, the findings suggest that ABC-I is a viable alternative to CBT-I for the treatment of insomnia in women veterans.