The Sleep Acceptance Scale (SAS): Development, psychometric properties, and applications

Area of Science:

• Psychometric validation of psychological scales.
• Sleep science and behavioral medicine.
• Mental health assessment tools.

Background:

• Sleep problems are prevalent and impact mental well-being.
• Existing measures may not fully capture acceptance of sleep difficulties.
• Cognitive and emotional responses are key to managing sleep issues.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and psychometrically evaluate the Sleep Acceptance Scale (SAS).
• To assess the scale's ability to measure sleep acceptance, including cognitive and emotional aspects.
• To determine the scale's reliability and validity in diverse populations.

Main Methods:

• A six-item, 7-point Likert scale (SAS) was developed.
• Data collected from 1,350 participants with and without sleep problems.
• Exploratory Graph Analysis (EGA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were used for validation.

Main Results:

• EGA and CFA confirmed a unidimensional structure for the SAS.
• The scale demonstrated high internal consistency (${\omega }_{\mathrm{tot}}$ =0.91) and convergent validity.
• SAS showed temporal stability but lacked configural invariance between good and bad sleepers.

Conclusions:

• The SAS is a reliable and valid measure of sleep acceptance.
• It captures crucial cognitive and emotional dimensions of responding to sleep problems.
• The SAS can monitor therapeutic progress in acceptance and mindfulness-based interventions.