BEHAVIORAL-ASSESSMENT AND TREATMENT OF INSOMNIA - A REVIEW WITH AN EMPHASIS ON CLINICAL-APPLICATION

We reviewed behavioral and related nonpharmacologic treatments for insomnia, as well as salient diagnostic and assessment issues. The paper evaluates the scientific status of the existing literature, giving greater weight to the literature of the past decade, and offers practical, clinical recommendations for assessment and treatment that derive from the literature. We found that treatments for insomnia, namely relaxation, cognitive behavior therapy, stimulus control, sleep restriction, and sleep hygiene are all effective to varying degrees, and it is both practically feasible and clinically desirable to favor a tailored package treatment approach rather than relying on unitary interventions. Overall, we underscored the importance of comprehensive, developmentally tuned assessment, and we concluded that behavioral treatment of insomnia has demonstrated strong success. Promising areas for future inquiry include comparing nonpharmacologic vs. hypnotic treatments and exploring the utility of very brief and self-help interventions.