ABSTRACT
Behavioral intervention has been applied as a supplementary treatment to facilitate compliance with the use of continuous positive airway pressure in patients with sleep-related breathing disorders. Behavioral techniques have been used to assist in the treatment of other sleep disorders, although evidence of their effectiveness is preliminary. The basic rationale of behavioral interventions for sleep disorders is to make an individual’s lifestyle and sleep pattern more compatible with the nature of the systems that regulate sleep. Sleep disturbance is of the most common health complaints in the general population. Sleep disturbances can be conceptualized as disruptions of the mechanisms that regulate the normal processes of sleep and wakefulness. Maladaptive behavioral practices, such as napping or sleeping late on weekends, may trigger and perpetuate sleep problems. The trait alone may not ordinarily be sufficient to produce a persistent sleep disturbance, but may lead to occasional poor sleep.
