Exercise-Context Sleep Quality Scale (ECSQS): Validity and Reliability Study

The purpose of this study is to develop a valid and reliable measurement tool to assess sleep quality and sleep perceptions in the context of exercise among adults who engage in regular exercise.

In line with this aim, the Exercise-Context Sleep Quality Scale (ECSQS) was developed, and exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted on two independent samples. It was determined that the scale has a structure consisting of a total of 12 items and three factors (Perception of Exercise-Related Sleep, Sleep Hygiene and Environmental Factors, general Sleep Adequacy). The results of the exploratory factor analysis showed that the total explained variance was 56.8%, which is above the thresholds recommended for construct validity in the social sciences.

The findings of the confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the three-factor model exhibited a good level of fit to the data according to the χ²/df ratio, RMR, RMSEA and fit indices such as GFI, AGFI, NFI, IFI, TLI and CFI. In reliability analyses, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.83 for the first factor, and 0.65 and 0.64 for the second and third factors, respectively; for the total scale, Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega values were found to be 0.77. Discriminant validity was supported by the Fornell-Larcker criterion, while convergent validity received only partial support because AVE values were below 0.50. Composite reliability (CR) values were acceptable. Item discrimination analyses showed that all items had item-total correlations above 0.30, and that Cohen's d effect sizes in comparisons of the lower and upper 27% groups were mostly at "large" or "very large" levels; these results indicate that the scale strongly distinguishes between individuals with low and high levels of sleep quality in the context of exercise.

The findings demonstrate that the ECSQS can validly and sufficiently reliably measure sleep quality in regular exercisers through a three-dimensional structure, and that, as one of the first Turkish sleep quality scales specific to the exercise context, it fills an important measurement gap in the sports sciences and sleep science literature.