Background: The Sleep Self-Report (SSR) is a questionnaire initially created for use with a sample from the USA to assess sleep patterns and problems in school-aged children. The objective of this study was to validate the SSR among a Spanish sample.
Methods: Participants were 1228 Spanish children from 8 to 12 years of age who completed the questionnaires at school anonymously.
Results: Internal consistency was good (ω = 0.85). Convergent validity with anxiety (r = 0.54) and perceived welfare (r = -0.53) measures, and divergent validity with a measure of academic performance and positive influence of peers (r = -0.22) were acceptable. Exploratory analysis suggested a factorial structure composed by four subscales: sleep quality, sleep anxiety, bedtime refusal and sleep routines. Confirmatory analysis indicated a good fit for the model (RMSEA = 0.04; GFI = 0.95; AGFI = 0.93; χ(2)/gl = 2.48).
Conclusions: The SSR has demonstrated to have good psychometric properties in the Spanish-speaking sample of children. The factorial structure supported by exploratory and confirmatory analysis examines the most relevant areas of sleep in children. The satisfactory psychometric properties support the use of the Spanish version of the SSR by researchers and clinicians.
© 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.