Modified Children's sleep habits questionnaire for behavioral sleep problems: A validation study

Sleep Health. 2017 Jun;3(3):136-141. doi: 10.1016/j.sleh.2017.03.009. Epub 2017 Apr 8.

Abstract

Objectives: Behavioral sleep problems (BSPs) are prevalent and consequential in young children. There is a need for screening tools that identify BSPs-which are often rooted in the parent-young child relationship-and typically respond to behavior management. Such a tool would increase capacity to identify and treat BSPs. We sought to validate a short-form version of the widely used Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (SF-CSHQ) that omitted items that would not be responsive to behavioral strategies.

Methods: The original 33-item CSHQ elicits parent report of "behaviorally-based" and "medically-based" sleep items (eg, parasomnias and sleep disordered breathing). We conducted analyses to develop a SF-CSHQ that excludes its "medically-based" items, to determine (a) the SF-CSHQ threshold score corresponding to the full CSHQ clinical cut-off score (≥41), and (b) preliminary validity of this SF-CSHQ. Data were re-analyzed from the original data that established the CSHQ's psychometric properties in 4-10 year olds, and a second dataset that established its validity in 24-66 month olds.

Results: In both datasets, a threshold score of 30 had correlations of 0.90-0.94 with the original cut-off. This 23-item SF-CSHQ cut-off functioned as well as the full CSHQ cut-off in discriminating between children with vs without a parent-reported behavioral sleep problem, and with vs without prolonged sleep latency (per actigraphy).

Conclusion: We established preliminary validity of modified version of the widely-used CSHQ. This SF-CSHQ may be useful for widening screening and first-line guidance for behavioral sleep problems in young children, among professionals who are not sleep medicine specialists.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Validation Study

MeSH terms

  • Actigraphy
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Female
  • Habits*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Problem Behavior*
  • Psychometrics
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sleep / physiology*
  • Sleep Wake Disorders / psychology
  • Surveys and Questionnaires / standards*