Date of Award

6-2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in General Experimental Psychology

Department

Psychology

First Reader/Committee Chair

Dr. Robert Ricco

Abstract

This study was done to validate a widely used parent questionnaire that assesses sleep problems in children ages 4‑10. To date, no Spanish‑language sleep questionnaire is available for the Spanish‑speaking population. Research has found that sleep problems affect both typically developing children and children with developmental disabilities, potentially detracting from their quality of life. Spanish is the second most frequently spoken language in the United States, so it is of high importance to make available a Spanish‑language sleep questionnaire. The Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ) was chosen to be translated. The norming data for validation of the CSHQ‑S included 151 children from the community sample and 30 children from the clinical sample. A confirmatory factor analysis failed to replicate the purported internal structure of the English‑language CSHQ. Subsequent exploratory factor analysis yielded a unique 5‑factor solution which generally met criteria of reliability and validity. Our results show that children with disabilities experience more sleep problems than typically developing children. The CSHQ‑S can be considered to be a good Spanish‑language sleep measure in typically developing children and children with disabilities.

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