Optimizing an Integrated Mind and Body Treatment for Insomnia: The SLEEPS Study 2
University of California, San Francisco
40 participants
Sep 29, 2025
INTERVENTIONAL
Conditions
Summary
This two-arm randomized trial will provide digital cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) to all participants and passive body heating (PBH) sessions using a sauna blanket to half of participants over a 9-week treatment period. Participants are adults aged 18 years or older with insomnia disorder.
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria10
- years or older
- English-speaking
- Willing to use birth control if assigned female sex at birth
- Willing to receive study text messages during participation
- Location to plug sauna blanket into regular wall outlet
- Ability to lie in sauna blanket for 15 minutes
- Ability to fit in the sauna blanket
- Daily access to the internet via computer, smartphone, or tablet
- Elevated insomnia symptoms as indexed by a score of 11 or greater on the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) at two screening timepoints
- Primary insomnia disorder (characterized by difficulty initiating sleep) as indexed by a positive diagnosis on the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 Sleep Disorders (SCISD)
Exclusion Criteria13
- Night shift or swing shift worker
- Current or planned routine body heating practices (e.g., saunas, hot tubs, long baths) within 4 hours before bed that are 10 minutes or more in duration (≥2x per week)
- Pregnant or plans to become pregnant during the participation period
- Traveling internationally between screening assessment and anticipated post-intervention assessment, or during anticipated post-follow-up assessment period (~1 week)
- Other diagnosed sleep disorders or suspected sleep disorders
- Medical conditions that might increase the risk of passive body heating using an infrared sauna blanket
- Medication use that might increase the risk of passive body heating using an infrared sauna blanket
- Mental health disorder that may better explain insomnia, require priority treatment, or be exacerbated by time in bed restriction
- Medical condition that may better explain insomnia, require priority treatment, or be exacerbated by time in bed restriction
- Lifetime diagnosis of a bipolar disorder, psychosis, or other psychotic disorder
- Current (past 3 months) major depressive disorder
- Current (past 12 months) suicidality, alcohol use disorder, other substance use disorder (except mild cannabis use disorder), panic disorder, agoraphobia, social anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and eating disorders
- If using medications for mental health treatment (e.g., antidepressant medication) must have been on a stable dose for prior 8 weeks
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Interventions
Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is a behavioral (psychotherapeutic) intervention for insomnia disorder. Participants will complete digital CBT-I online using the Sleep Healthy Using the Internet (SHUTi) program.
Passive body heating (PBH) is a body-based treatment that participants will complete using a sauna blanket, which is similar in form factor to an adult-sized sleeping bag (head is not within the heated area). Participants will complete at least three 15-minute PBH sessions per week. Participants will complete PBH sessions in the sauna blanket placed on the floor or on a couch (i.e., not in their bed) at a setting of Level 6, 1-2 hours before bed.
Locations(1)
View Full Details on ClinicalTrials.gov
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NCT07036705