No help for healthy adults, but people with troubled sleep may benefit
STUDY: Ntoumas I et al, Healthcare 2026
STUDY TYPE: Randomized crossover trials
FUNDING: Independent
Background
Weighted blankets are sold for anxiety and insomnia on the theory that deep pressure calms the nervous system. How much weight helps, if any, is unclear.
The Study
- Two crossover studies, each with 20 healthy adults around age 22 with no sleep disorders.
- Nap study: four 30-minute naps in a lab under a light sham blanket or 7, 9, or 14 kg blankets.
- Overnight study: four nights at home under the person’s usual blanket or 7, 9, or 14 kg blankets.
- Sleep was measured with portable EEG.
Results
During naps, no blanket weight changed how fast people fell asleep or how long they slept.
Overnight, the 9 and 14 kg blankets appeared to improve one measure of sleep efficiency. That result came from only 7 participants with complete data, and it disappeared when the authors reran the analysis two other ways. Total sleep time, awakenings, and sleep latency did not differ.
Limitations
- Small samples of healthy young adults.
- One session per condition, so habituation is unknown.
- Participants knew which blanket they had.
- Most overnight data were incomplete.
Practice Implications
- It’s hard to show a difference in healthy adults who are already sleeping well. However, earlier work in psychiatric outpatients with insomnia found larger benefits.
- If a patient with insomnia or anxiety wants to try one, it’s a low-risk experiment. Suggest about 10% of body weight, keep a sleep diary to track progress for 2 weeks, and keep CBT-insomnia as the main treatment.
- Advise against weighted blankets for young children or anyone who can’t remove one on their own.
—Chris Aiken, MD
Director, Psych Partners
Editor in Chief, Carlat Psychiatry Report
