Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as the Basis for Preventive Intervention in a Sleep Health Program: A Quasi-Experimental Study of E-Mail Newsletters to College Students

Kenichi Asano^1*, Ikuo Ishimura², Hironori Abe², Michiko Nakazato¹, Akiko Nakagawa¹, Eiji Shimizu¹

¹Research Center for Child Mental Development, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan.
²Department of Clinical Psychology, Tokyo Seitoku University, Chiba, Japan.

DOI: 10.4236/ojmp.2015.41002                

Abstract

Several reports suggest that college students often have atypical sleep patterns and experience poor sleep quality. We examined the effect of a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) based intervention program to improve sleep quality and overall mental health among college students. The intervention was delivered in the form of e-mail newsletters. Fifty-three students participated in the intervention group, and another 50 students participated in the control group. The intervention group received a lecture on sleep hygiene; once-weekly e-mail newsletters on sleep health topics (sleep hygiene, stimulus control, sleep restriction, sleep titration, and relapse prevention) and were asked to maintain a four-week sleep diary. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), a measure of sleep quality, and the Kessler 6, a measure of psychological distress, were administered before the lecture (as the baseline measurement) and again 16 weeks later (follow-up measurement). PSQI and K6 scores were reduced in the intervention group compared with the control group. A CBT-based sleep health program utilizing e-mail newsletters may work to improve sleep quality and mental health. This program may represent a cost effective way for Japanese students to receive treatment for poor sleep and may also serve to prevent psychiatric problems.

Keywords

Sleep, College Students, Insomnia, Mental Health, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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