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

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Sleep Medicine
• Child Psychology
• Behavioral Health Screening

Background:

• Behavioral sleep problems (BSPs) are common in young children and impact family well-being.
• Current screening tools may not adequately identify BSPs responsive to behavioral interventions.
• A validated, brief screening tool is needed to increase early identification and treatment capacity for BSPs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a short-form version of the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (SF-CSHQ).
• To omit items not responsive to behavioral management strategies.
• To establish a threshold score for the SF-CSHQ corresponding to the full CSHQ clinical cut-off.

Main Methods:

• Re-analysis of existing datasets (4-10 year olds and 24-66 month olds).
• Development of a 23-item SF-CSHQ by excluding "medically-based" sleep items from the original 33-item CSHQ.
• Statistical analysis to determine the SF-CSHQ threshold and assess its validity against the full CSHQ cut-off.

Main Results:

• A threshold score of 30 on the SF-CSHQ demonstrated high correlation (0.90-0.94) with the original CSHQ cut-off (≥41).
• The 23-item SF-CSHQ effectively discriminated between children with and without parent-reported behavioral sleep problems.
• The SF-CSHQ also distinguished children with and without prolonged sleep latency, as measured by actigraphy.

Conclusions:

• Preliminary validity of the modified SF-CSHQ was established.
• The SF-CSHQ offers a potentially valuable tool for expanding screening and initial guidance for behavioral sleep problems in young children.
• This tool can assist healthcare professionals, including those without specialized sleep medicine expertise, in identifying and addressing childhood BSPs.