Modification of the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Terry Katz; Amy M Shui; Cynthia R Johnson; Amanda L Richdale; Ann M Reynolds; Lawrence Scahill; Beth A Malow

doi:10.1007/s10803-018-3520-2

Modification of the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

J Autism Dev Disord. 2018 Aug;48(8):2629-2641. doi: 10.1007/s10803-018-3520-2.

Authors

Terry Katz¹, Amy M Shui^{2

3}, Cynthia R Johnson⁴, Amanda L Richdale⁵, Ann M Reynolds⁶, Lawrence Scahill⁷, Beth A Malow⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, 13123 E. 16th Street, B-140, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA. terry.katz@ucdenver.edu.
² Biostatistics Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
³ STAR Center for ASD & NDDs, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
⁴ Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
⁵ Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
⁶ Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, 13123 E. 16th Street, B-140, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA.
⁷ Marcus Autism Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.
⁸ Sleep Disorders Division, Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA.

PMID: 29500758
DOI: 10.1007/s10803-018-3520-2

Abstract

Sleep problems are common in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and adversely impact daytime functioning. Although no questionnaires have been developed to assess sleep in children with ASD, the 33-item Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ) is widely used in this population. We examined the factor structure of the CSHQ in 2872 children (age 4-10 years) enrolled in the Autism Treatment Network. A four-factor solution (Sleep Initiation and Duration, Sleep Anxiety/Co-Sleeping, Night Waking/Parasomnias, and Daytime Alertness) with 5-6 items per factor explained 75% of the total variation. Ten items failed to load on any factor. This abbreviated 23-item four-factor version of this measure may be useful when assessing sleep in children with ASD.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder; Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire; Insomnia; Parental report; Sleep measures.

MeSH terms

Autism Spectrum Disorder / complications*
Autism Spectrum Disorder / physiopathology
Autism Spectrum Disorder / psychology
Child
Child, Preschool
Factor Analysis, Statistical
Female
Habits
Humans
Male
Sleep
Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / diagnosis*
Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / psychology
Surveys and Questionnaires / standards*

Grants and funding

UA3 MC 11054/U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/International