Waking up to the problem of sleep: can mindfulness help? A review of theory and evidence for the effects of mindfulness for sleep
Section snippets
Etiological model of sleep disturbance
Sleep disturbance is thought to be initiated and perpetuated by the following sequential cognitive and behavioral processes: first, excessive daytime and nighttime rumination [21], second, primary arousal (i.e. initial negative appraisal about daytime consequences of poor sleep that results in distress and physiological activation)—‘If I don’t sleep tonight, I’m going to fail at my job tomorrow and be fired.’ [22]; third, secondary arousal (i.e. the negative secondary or metacognitive
Theoretical framework for mindfulness and sleep disturbance
In Figure 1, we present an integrative etiological model of sleep disturbance from several cognitive and behavioral frameworks and demonstrate how processes that are core to the practice of mindfulness may target key risk factors for sleep disturbance [26•]. The practice of mindfulness involves three core processes (experiential awareness, attentional control, and acceptance) that have the potential to target each of the risk factors for sleep disturbance. For example, mindfulness-based
Mindfulness-based interventions and sleep
The literature on the effects of mindfulness for sleep is comprised primarily of investigations that have tested mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) or mindfulness-based therapy for insomnia (MBTI), a tailored derivative of MBSR and CBT-I (for reviews see Refs. [30•,31]). The most compelling evidence for the effects of MBIs for insomnia come from randomized controlled trials that have compared MBIs to rigorous comparison conditions. For example, in one study, MBSR demonstrated greater
Future directions
A prevalent criticism of evidence-based psychological treatments for sleep disturbance (e.g. CBT-I) and also of MBIs is that they are not readily accessible, scalable, or affordable [26•]. Although recent reviews suggest that alternative delivery (e.g. online versus in person) [38•] or minimal facilitator involvement [39] could be encouraging intervention directions, we are unaware of any published results from studies that have tested alternatives to in-person delivery of MBIs for sleep
Conflict of interest statement
Nothing declared.
References and recommended reading
Papers of particular interest, published within the period of review, have been highlighted as:
• of special interest
•• of outstanding interest
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health [grant number K23AT009208]. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
References (43)
- et al.
Risk factors for incident chronic insomnia: a general population prospective study
Sleep Med
(2012) - et al.
Epidemiological and clinical relevance of insomnia diagnosis algorithms according to the DSM-IV and the International Classification of Sleep Disorders (ICSD)
Sleep Med
(2009) - et al.
Place of chronic insomnia in the course of depressive and anxiety disorders
J Psychiatr Res
(2003) - et al.
Risk factors for late-life suicide: a prospective, community-based study
Am J Geriatr Psychiatry
(2002) Cognitive-behavioral therapy of insomnia
Sleep Med Clin
(2006)- et al.
Distinguishing rumination from worry in clinical insomnia
Behav Res Ther
(2010) - et al.
Improving sleep with mindfulness and acceptance: a metacognitive model of insomnia
Behav Res Ther
(2012) - et al.
The attention-intention-effort pathway in the development of psychophysiologic insomnia: a theoretical review
Sleep Med Rev
(2006) - et al.
A randomized controlled trial of mindfulness meditation for chronic insomnia
Sleep
(2014) - et al.
Comparing the effects of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and sleep psycho-education with exercise on chronic insomnia: a randomised controlled trial
Psychother Psychosom
(2017)
Telephone-based mindfulness training to reduce stress in women with myocardial infarction: rationale and design of a multicenter randomized controlled trial
Am Heart J
Why We Sleep
DSM-V
Insomnia: definition, prevalence, etiology, and consequences
J Clin Sleep Med
Reduction of natural killer cell activity in primary insomnia and in major depression
Sleep Res
Sleep fragmentation and the risk of incident Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive decline in older persons
Sleep
Associations between sleep loss and increased risk of obesity and diabetes
Ann N Y Acad Sci
Sleep and cardiovascular disease
Insomnia and accidents: cross-sectional study (EQUINOX) on sleep-related home, work and car accidents in 5293 subjects with insomnia from 10 countries
J Sleep Res
Effectiveness of non-benzodiazepine hypnotics in treatment of adult insomnia: meta-analysis of data submitted to the Food and Drug Administration
BMJ
Nonbenzodiazepine sedative hypnotics and risk of fall-related injury
Sleep
Cited by (39)
An empirical study to evaluate the impact of mindfulness on helpdesk employees
2023, Science of Computer ProgrammingSleep and deception
2022, Current Opinion in PsychologyCitation Excerpt :Importantly, research has also begun to document interventions that either moderate unhealthy sleep (Figure 1, box E) or sever the links between sleep and deception (box F). Research has identified several self-initiated interventions that may help individuals suffering from unhealthy sleep rectify the situation (e.g., mindfulness [53], physical exercise [31], cognitive-behavioral therapy) [54]. Other research has highlighted ways that organizations and their leaders might mitigate unhealthy employee sleep.
From personal wellbeing to relationships: A systematic review on the impact of mindfulness interventions and practices on leaders
2022, Human Resource Management ReviewCitation Excerpt :Given the importance of renewed energy to leaders' wellbeing, productivity, and leadership quality (Byrne et al., 2014), it is surprising that only one prior study (Lundqvist et al., 2018) assessed the sleep-related outcomes of leaders' mindfulness practice. With research supporting the effectiveness of mindfulness interventions in bringing about positive sleep outcomes in general populations (Shallcross, Visvanathan, Sperber, & Duberstein, 2019), future research on the efficacy of mindfulness practice on leaders' sleep quality and leadership would make a novel contribution. Additionally, future studies could explore the role of regular mindfulness practice in leaders' sustained health behavior over a longer time period.
Relationship between stressful life events and sleep quality: The mediating and moderating role of psychological suzhi
2022, Sleep MedicineCitation Excerpt :For example, some studies have reported that different types of support, such as peer support, teacher support, and parental support, can buffer the adverse effects of stress on sleep quality [21]. In addition, college students' personal protective factors can also play a buffer role, such as psychological resilience [22,23], distressed personality [24], emotional stability [25], optimistic personality [26], and characteristics of mindfulness [27]. Psychological suzhi is a native psychological concept proposed in the context of Chinese quality-oriented education.
A brief mindfulness-based intervention, sleep quality, sleep duration, and fatigue among nurses: A randomized controlled trial
2024, Journal of Clinical Psychology