An Examination of the Relationship Between Psychological Flexibility and Insomnia

Abstract

Insomnia is a sleep-wake disorder characterized by difficulty initiating sleep, maintaining sleep, or falling back asleep. The main psychotherapeutic treatment for insomnia is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBTI). Although the treatment is highly effective, its main limitations include poor adherence and high dropout rates, suggesting that many suffering from insomnia are unable to reap the benefits of CBTI. The present study proposes the use of psychological flexibility from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) as a potential framework to examine insomnia. Psychological flexibility looks to promote healthy, flexible behaviors and thoughts to guide the individual towards their goals or values. There are six domains within psychological flexibility and all of which are interrelated and build upon one another. The present study utilized correlational analyses to examine the potential relationship between psychological flexibility and insomnia. A sleep-related psychological flexibility measure (SRPFM) was developed to examine psychological flexibility within a sleep-related context. The measure was designed to estimate a global sleep related psychological flexibility score as well as scores for each of the six individual domains. It was hypothesized that the global sleep related psychological flexibility score would be positively associated with how efficiently our participants slept and be negatively associated with levels of insomnia and daytime sleepiness. It was also hypothesized that the individual domains of psychological flexibility would be positively associated with how efficiently our participants slept and be negatively associated with levels of insomnia and daytime sleepiness. Sleep diaries were used to calculate sleep efficiency for 19 participants throughout the course of one week. Results found that higher endorsement of global sleep related psychological flexibility yielded less endorsement of insomnia. Furthermore, Endorsement of various domains of psychological flexibility yielded less endorsement of insomnia. Essentially, those who are more psychologically flexible are less likely to endorse clinically significant insomnia. The results of this study suggest a relationship between sleep related psychological flexibility and insomnia. This information can be used to guide further examination of this connection as well as the future development of a new adjunctive or standalone treatment for insomnia.