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A systematic review and meta-analysis of psychological treatments to improve sleep quality in university students

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  • Michelle Tadros
  • Jill M Newby
  • Sophie Li
  • Aliza Werner-Seidler

Abstract

Objective: This paper reviews the literature evaluating psychological treatments to improve sleep quality in young adult university students. Method: Participants (N = 6179) were young adult (aged 18–30 years) university students. Databases (PubMed, PsychInfo, EMBASE and Medline) were searched for randomized controlled trials evaluating psychological treatments for sleep disturbance in university students. The search date was 20 September 2024. Results: 22 original trials met inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis showed that psychological interventions outperformed control groups (n = 14) on improving sleep quality (g = 0.50, 95%CI:0.26–0.73). There were significantly different effect sizes found between studies that evaluated cognitive behaviour therapy for insomnia (CBT-I; n = 6, g = 0.72, CI: 0.43–1.02) versus studies that evaluated mindfulness interventions (n = 5, g = 0.16, 95% CI: -0.18–0.51). Conclusions: Psychological treatments improve sleep quality for young adult university students. While CBT-I showed larger effect sizes than interventions focused on mindfulness, further research is needed to verify if this reflects a true difference in the efficacy of the interventions.

Suggested Citation

  • Michelle Tadros & Jill M Newby & Sophie Li & Aliza Werner-Seidler, 2025. "A systematic review and meta-analysis of psychological treatments to improve sleep quality in university students," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 20(2), pages 1-18, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0317125
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0317125
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