The effect of interpersonal psychotherapy for depression on insomnia symptoms in a cohort of women with sexual abuse histories

J Trauma Stress. 2009 Dec;22(6):634-8. doi: 10.1002/jts.20456.

Abstract

Insomnia frequently occurs with trauma exposure and depression, but can ameliorate with improvements in depression. Insomnia was assessed by the insomnia subscale of the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression in 106 women with childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and major depression receiving interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) in an uncontrolled pilot (n = 36) and an immediately subsequent randomized controlled trial (n = 70) comparing IPT to treatment as usual. Depression improved in each study and in both treatment conditions; insomnia had smaller, nonsignificant improvements. Overall, 95 women (90%) endorsed insomnia on the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV at baseline and, of those, 90% endorsed insomnia following treatment. Despite improvements in depression, insomnia persists for most women with CSA.

Publication types

  • Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Adult Survivors of Child Abuse / psychology*
  • Child
  • Child Abuse, Sexual / psychology*
  • Cohort Studies
  • Comorbidity
  • Depressive Disorder, Major / diagnosis
  • Depressive Disorder, Major / psychology
  • Depressive Disorder, Major / therapy*
  • Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Personality Inventory / statistics & numerical data
  • Psychometrics
  • Psychotherapy / methods*
  • Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / diagnosis
  • Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / psychology
  • Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / therapy*
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / diagnosis
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / psychology
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / therapy*