How does Sleep Restriction Therapy work? Testing the Triple-R theory as an explanation through computational modeling
Abstract
Sleep restriction therapy (SRT) is an effective treatment for insomnia, one of the most prevalent mental disorders today. The Triple-R theory has been proposed to explain the efficacy of SRT based on three processes: restricting time in bed, regulating sleep and wake times, and reconditioning of the bed-sleep association. However, based on the verbal theory alone it is difficult to determine whether the proposed processes explain the efficacy of SRT. In the current paper we test whether Triple-R theory explains the efficacy of SRT through computational modeling. Building on the productive explanation framework we (i) define empirical phenomena in sleep diary data before and after SRT; (ii) formalize the Triple-R theory as a computational model; (iii) test whether the empirical phenomena are reproduced by the model. We show that our computational Triple-R model reproduces most data patterns observed in empirical studies. Therefore, we conclude that the Triple-R theory provides a partial explanation of the efficacy of SRT. Moreover, our proposed Triple-R model makes predictions that can guide new clinical trials and provides a better understanding of the mechanisms of SRT.
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BibTeX
@misc{ron2026does,
title = {{How does Sleep Restriction Therapy work? Testing the Triple-R theory as an explanation through computational modeling}},
author = {Jill de Ron and Tessa F. Blanken and Denny Borsboom and Hans Gommers and Jonas Haslbeck and Jaap Lancee and Leonie Franziska Maurer and Jason Nak and Donald Robinaugh and Han L. J. van der Maas},
howpublished = {PsyArXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.31234/osf.io/5cxa3_v2},
url = {https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/5cxa3_v2/},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - How does Sleep Restriction Therapy work? Testing the Triple-R theory as an explanation through computational modeling
AU - Jill de Ron
AU - Tessa F. Blanken
AU - Denny Borsboom
AU - Hans Gommers
AU - Jonas Haslbeck
AU - Jaap Lancee
AU - Leonie Franziska Maurer
AU - Jason Nak
AU - Donald Robinaugh
AU - Han L. J. van der Maas
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/16
PB - PsyArXiv
DO - 10.31234/osf.io/5cxa3_v2
UR - https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/5cxa3_v2/
AB - Sleep restriction therapy (SRT) is an effective treatment for insomnia, one of the most prevalent mental disorders today. The Triple-R theory has been proposed to explain the efficacy of SRT based on three processes: restricting time in bed, regulating sleep and wake times, and reconditioning of the bed-sleep association. However, based on the verbal theory alone it is difficult to determine whether the proposed processes explain the efficacy of SRT. In the current paper we test whether Triple-R theory explains the efficacy of SRT through computational modeling. Building on the productive explanation framework we (i) define empirical phenomena in sleep diary data before and after SRT; (ii) formalize the Triple-R theory as a computational model; (iii) test whether the empirical phenomena are reproduced by the model. We show that our computational Triple-R model reproduces most data patterns observed in empirical studies. Therefore, we conclude that the Triple-R theory provides a partial explanation of the efficacy of SRT. Moreover, our proposed Triple-R model makes predictions that can guide new clinical trials and provides a better understanding of the mechanisms of SRT.
ER -