Thinking About Thinking in Insomnia Disorder: The Effect of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia on Sleep-Related Metacognition

Metacognition is defined as the ability to reflect on one's mental state and to govern thoughts and beliefs. Metacognitive dysfunctions are typical of several psychopathologic conditions, and also a feature of insomnia disorder, possibly playing a crucial role in its genesis and maintenance. In the context of insomnia, metacognition describes how individuals react to their own sleep-related thoughts and beliefs, boosting the hyperarousal state experienced by these patients. Up to now, no studies evaluated the effect of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) on metacognitive functioning. Therefore, the aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of CBT-I administered in group format in patients with insomnia disorder. As expected, all patients showed significant improvements in both insomnia and sleep diary parameters after treatment. Furthermore, an improvement was observed also in dysfunctional metacognitive levels, assessed by means of the Metacognitions Questionnaire-Insomnia (MCQ-I). However, 63% of patients still showed a MCQ-I score above the clinical cutoff after treatment. Dividing the sample on the basis of MCQ-I questionnaire scores after CBT-I, we found that patients, who still presented metacognitive impairment, received significant beneficial effects from CBT-I both on insomnia symptoms and on dysfunctional beliefs, but not on dysfunctional metacognitive functioning. These findings suggest that metacognition should be carefully evaluated in insomnia patients and further studies are needed to evaluate long-term implications of this remaining dysfunction.

Automated summary

Metacognition, the ability to reflect on one's mental state and control thoughts and beliefs, is associated with various psychopathological conditions. For patients with insomnia, reactions to sleep-related thoughts and beliefs may contribute to hyperarousal. Cognitive behavioral therapy has beneficial effects on insomnia symptoms and dysfunctional beliefs in insomnia patients, but some individuals may still have metacognitive impairments.