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Preliminary report on construction and validation of a pediatric sleep disturbance questionnaire
Insights
A new scale effectively measures sleep disturbances in children with developmental disabilities, including Tourette Disorder and cerebral palsy. This tool demonstrates good reliability and validity for assessing sleep issues in diverse pediatric populations.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Sleep Science
- Developmental Disabilities Research
- Child Psychology
Background:
- Sleep disturbances are common in children with developmental disabilities.
- Existing assessment tools may not adequately capture the nuances of sleep problems in this population.
- Accurate assessment is crucial for effective intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To report on the development and initial validation of a new scale for assessing sleep disturbance in children with developmental disabilities.
- To evaluate the scale's factor structure, reliability, and validity.
Main Methods:
- A novel scale was developed to assess sleep disturbance.
- The scale was administered to a sample including children with Tourette Disorder, cerebral palsy, and non-handicapped Native American children.
- Factor analysis was used to determine the scale's structure.
Main Results:
- The scale comprises 6 distinct factors.
- Preliminary analyses suggest adequate reliability and validity for the scale.
- The scale's items showed potential appropriateness for use with non-handicapped Native American children.
Conclusions:
- The newly developed scale appears to be a reliable and valid instrument for assessing sleep disturbances in children with developmental disabilities.
- The 6-factor structure provides a comprehensive assessment of sleep problems.
- Further research is warranted to confirm its utility across broader pediatric populations.
Abstract:
A scale to assess sleep disturbance of children with developmental disabilities is reported. The scale has been used with a small sample of 14 children diagnosed as having Tourette Disorder, 36 physically handicapped children (cerebral palsy). Also, a group of 115 nonhandicapped Native American children were surveyed to assess whether the items might be appropriate for use with such children. The scale has 6 distinct factors and appears to have adequate reliability and validity.