Efficacy of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Emotional Dysregulation and Sleep Quality in Patients with Chronic Insomnia

Background and purpose: There is paucity of information on the effect of acceptance and commitment therapy on emotional dysregulation and sleep quality. So, the present study was done to evaluate the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy on emotional dysregulation and sleep quality in patients with chronic insomnia. Materials and methods: A quasi- experimental research with one-group pretest-posttest design was performed in 15 individuals with chronic insomnia attending Sleep Disorders Research Center affiliated to Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, 2018. Insomnia had been confirmed by polysomnography and diagnostic interview. Then, acceptance and commitment therapy was delivered in eight weekly individual sessions. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale were administered. Data were analyzed applying Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Results: Linear trends in changes in sleep quality and emotional dysregulation were found to be significant at pretest, post-test, and follow-up (P<0.001). The results also indicated that acceptance and commitment treatment had a significant effect on the subscales of emotional dysregulation (P <0.05) which could even persist through time. Conclusion: According to current study, acceptance and commitment therapy can improve sleep quality in patients with chronic insomnia and also reduce emotional dysregulation in these patients.   (Clinical Trials Registry Number: IRCT20150822023705N11)