Research

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Internet-delivered Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (iCBTI) significantly improves sleep efficiency, total sleep time, and insomnia severity compared to waitlist controls in adults.

If you have insomnia, internet-delivered CBTI is a valid, evidence-based treatment option that is as effective as seeing a therapist in person. Look for programs that include core CBTI elements like sleep restriction and stimulus control. These programs typically run for 5-9 weeks and can be self-directed or guided by a therapist via email/phone. This approach is particularly useful if you cannot access in-person specialists.

WeakSupportsHIGH confidence
Sleep efficiency was 72% at baseline and improved by 7.2% (95% CI: 5.1%, 9.3%; p<0.001) with internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy versus control. Internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy resulted in a decrease in the insomnia severity index by 4.3 points (95% CI: -7.1, -1.5; p = 0.017) compared to control. Total sleep time averaged 5.7 hours at baseline and increased by 20 minutes with internet-delivered therapy versus control (95% CI: 9, 31; p = 0.004).
Michael Seyffert et al. · PLoS ONE · 2016

Why this rating

Systematic review and meta-analysis of 15 randomized controlled trials with 2,392 participants.

Source

Internet-Delivered Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to Treat Insomnia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Michael Seyffert et al. · PLoS ONE · 2016

DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0149139

Meta-analysis · 15 studiesCited 346×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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