Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Athlete Sleep Behavior Questionnaire

Sleep has long been understood as an essential component for overall well-being, substantially affecting physical health, cognitive functioning, mental health, and quality of life. Currently, the Athlete Sleep Behavior Questionnaire (ASBQ) is the only known instrument designed to measure sleep behaviors in the athletic population. However, the psychometric properties of the scale in a collegiate student-athlete and dance population have not been established.

To assess model fit of the ASBQ in a sample of collegiate traditional student-athletes and dancers.

Observational study.

Twelve colleges and universities.

A total of 556 (104 men, 452 women; age = 19.84 ± 1.62 years) traditional student-athletes and dancers competing at the collegiate level.

A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was computed to assess the factor structure of the ASBQ. We performed principal component analysis extraction and covariance modeling analyses to identify an alternate model. Multigroup invariance testing was conducted on the alternate model to identify if group differences existed for sex, sport type, injury status, and level of competition.

The CFA on the ASBQ indicated that the model did not meet recommended model fit indices. An alternate 3-factor, 9-item model with improved fit was identified; however, the scale structure was not consistently supported during multigroup invariance testing procedures.

The original 3-factor, 18-item ASBQ was not supported for use with collegiate athletes in our study. The alternate ASBQ was substantially improved, although more research should be completed to ensure that the 9-item instrument accurately captures all dimensions of sleep behavior relevant for collegiate athletes.