Investigation of the effect of emotional freedom technique (EFT) on sleep quality and fatigue in young people with sleep problems: Randomized controlled study

Randomized trial👥 64 participants⚖️ vs. no intervention controlModerate rigor✓ Source-checked📍 Turkey

In plain English. Sixty-four university students with sleep problems were split into a group that got two tapping sessions a month apart and a group that got nothing, and the tapping group came out clearly ahead on insomnia severity, daytime sleepiness, and overall sleep quality. Fatigue scores didn't move any differently between groups, so the benefit showed up in sleep measures specifically, not tiredness. With just two sessions and a no-treatment comparison rather than an active one, it's a clean early signal rather than a head-to-head test against another treatment.

What they found

people took part

In 64 students randomized to two EFT sessions four weeks apart versus no intervention, the EFT group improved significantly more on Insomnia Severity (t=6.732, p=0.001), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (t=2.16, p=0.034), and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (t=3.934, p=0.001), but not on the Fatigue Severity Scale (t=0.910, p=0.366).

How the study worked

Who took partuniversity students with sleep problems (n=64)

What they didIn a randomized controlled trial, participants were randomly assigned to receive tapping or a comparison condition, then measured and compared.

Compared withno intervention control

Measured withInsomnia Severity Index, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Fatigue Severity Scale

💡 Where this could help

Picture a college student lying awake at 3am, exhausted but wired, reluctant to start a sleep medication. If this finding replicates, it suggests two short sessions could teach a technique students keep using on their own, free and as often as needed, as a first-line option before turning to medication for sleep trouble.

🔬 What to study next

The next step is trading self-report sleep diaries for objective measures — actigraphy or even a night of polysomnography — to see whether the insomnia and sleepiness improvements students reported actually show up as measurably different sleep architecture. It's also worth chasing why fatigue didn't budge even as sleep quality did: a look at daytime cortisol slope or inflammatory markers might explain that disconnect, and a longer follow-up would show whether two sessions' benefit survives finals season and graduation.

The full record

Design	Randomized trial
Participants	64 people
Population	university students with sleep problems
Comparison group	no intervention control
Outcome measures	Insomnia Severity Index, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Fatigue Severity Scale
Journal	Explore (New York, N.Y.)
Year	2025
Country	Turkey
Language	English
Method	EFT / tapping
Publication type	Study / trial
Verification	✓ Confirmed against the primary source

Read the original study →

Cite this study

APA

Özcan, H., Meşedüzü, M., Gülen, E., & Çopur, B. (2025). Investigation of the effect of emotional freedom technique (EFT) on sleep quality and fatigue in young people with sleep problems: Randomized controlled study. Explore (New York, N.Y.). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2025.103162

This record is part of the Tapping Evidence Base — an openly-sourced, fully-referenced directory of the research on EFT/tapping. Explore more studies on Sleep & Insomnia