Abstract

Online therapies are gaining rapid attention since the COVID-19 pandemic. The ever-evolving way of living during the pandemic changed our health system and the way therapies are delivered and received. Online Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) has been shown to be as effective as face-to-face therapies in treating insomnia and/or nightmares in adults presenting with trauma symptoms. This review assessed the efficacy of online CBT for the treatment of insomnia in comparison to face-to-face CBT using selfreport and objective measures of sleep such as actigraphy. A literature search on the following databases was carried out: PubMed, MEDLINE, PsychINFO, Scopus, CINAHL, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, EBSCO and Taylor & Francis between January 1990 and January of 2022. Two studies met the inclusion criteria. Findings from this review showed that both online and face-to-face CBT were effective treatments of insomnia, with face-to-face outperforming online CBT in adults with trauma symptoms using sleep diaries. However, findings from actigraphy were not consistent with self-report measures. Further studies that assess and compare online and face-to-face psychological treatments for the treatment of insomnia/nightmares in those presenting with trauma symptoms are needed.

Keywords:Insomnia; Nightmares; Trauma; CBT; Objective; Self-report; Measure

Abbreviations:CBT-I: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia; PSG: Polysomnography; RCT: Randomised Controlled Trials; PRISMA: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta- Analyses guidelines; PICO: Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome; PCBT-I=Professional Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia; VCBT-I=Video Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia; ISI=Insomnia Severity Index; ESS=The Epworth Sleepiness Scale; DBAS=The Dysfunctional Beliefs and Attitudes about Sleeps