A Brief Screening Questionnaire for Infant Sleep Problems: Validation and Findings for an Internet Sample
2002/09/17 by Avi Sadeh, Gert Aron, David F. Lakatos +1 · 890 citations
Environmental Science · Health Professions · Medicine · Neuroscience · Psychology · #Actigraphy #Infant Health and Development #Insomnia #Medicine #Neuroscience of respiration and sleep #Pediatrics #Physical therapy #Psychiatry #Sleep (system call) #Sleep and related disorders #Sleep diary #Water Quality and Resources Studies
paper · doi:10.1542/peds.113.6.e570
published in PEDIATRICS 113(6), e570-e577 (American Academy of Pediatrics)
openalex publication_date 2004/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate (using subjective and objective methods) a brief infant sleep questionnaire (BISQ) that would be appropriate for screening in pediatric settings. DESIGN: Two studies were performed to assess the properties of the BISQ. Study I compared BISQ measures with sleep diary measures and objective actigraphic sleep measures for clinical (N = 43) and control (N = 57) groups of infants (5-29 months of age). The second study was based on an Internet survey of 1028 respondents who completed the BISQ posted on an infant sleep web site. RESULTS: In study I, BISQ measures were found to be correlated significantly with sleep measures derived from actigraphy and sleep diaries. BISQ measures (number of night wakings and nocturnal sleep duration) were the best predictors for distinguishing between clinical and control samples. High test-retest correlations (r >.82) were demonstrated for BISQ measures for a subsample of 26 infants. Study II provided a developmental perspective on BISQ measures. The study demonstrated that BISQ measures derived from a large Internet survey provided developmental and sleep ecology-related findings that corresponded to the existing literature findings on sleep patterns in early childhood. CONCLUSIONS: The findings provide psychometric, clinical, and ecologic support for the use of the BISQ as a brief infant sleep screening tool for clinical and research purposes. Potential clinical cutoff scores are provided.
Cited by
- Prevalence, phenomenology, aetiology and predictors of challenging behaviour in Smith‐Magenis syndrome
- Sleep and sleep ecology in the first 3 years: a web‐based study
- Young children's sleep patterns and problems in paediatric primary healthcare settings: a multicentre cross‐sectional study from a nationally representative sample
- Infant sleep characteristics in children with autism spectrum disorder: a population-derived Australian birth cohort study
- Routines and child development: A systematic review
- Early features associated with the neurocognitive development at 36 months of age: the AuBE study
- Explaining individual variation in paternal brain responses to infant cries
- Utility of subjective sleep assessment tools for healthy preschool children: a comparative study between sleep logs, questionnaires, and actigraphy. [europepmc]
- Associations of early life risk factors with infant sleep duration. [europepmc]
- Pediatric sleep questionnaires as diagnostic or epidemiological tools: a review of currently available instruments. [europepmc]
- First steps for mommy and me: a pilot intervention to improve nutrition and physical activity behaviors of postpartum mothers and their infants. [europepmc]
- A longitudinal study of preschoolers' language-based bedtime routines, sleep duration, and well-being. [europepmc]
- Prevention of Overweight in Infancy (POI.nz) study: a randomised controlled trial of sleep, food and activity interventions for preventing overweight from birth. [europepmc]
- Use of actigraphy for assessment in pediatric sleep research. [europepmc]
- Sleep duration and overweight/obesity in children: review and implications for pediatric nursing. [europepmc]
- The Alberta Pregnancy Outcomes and Nutrition (APrON) cohort study: rationale and methods. [europepmc]
- Correspondence between reported and actigraphic sleep measures in preschool children: the role of a clinical context. [europepmc]
- A complex intervention to improve pregnancy outcome in obese women; the UPBEAT randomised controlled trial. [europepmc]
- Longitudinal study of sleep behavior in normal infants during the first year of life. [europepmc]
- Sleep and breathing in premature infants at 6 months post-natal age. [europepmc]
- INSIGHT Responsive Parenting Intervention and Infant Sleep. [europepmc]
- Nighttime Sleep Duration and Sleep Behaviors among Toddlers from Low-Income Families: Associations with Obesogenic Behaviors and Obesity and the Role of Parenting. [europepmc]
- Infant hair cortisol: associations with salivary cortisol and environmental context. [europepmc]
- Infant adiposity following a randomised controlled trial of a behavioural intervention in obese pregnancy. [europepmc]
- Modified Children's sleep habits questionnaire for behavioral sleep problems: A validation study. [europepmc]
- A Social Media Peer Group for Mothers To Prevent Obesity from Infancy: The Grow2Gether Randomized Trial. [europepmc]
- Cumulative socio-demographic risk factors and sleep outcomes in early childhood. [europepmc]
- Sleep Onset Problems and Subcortical Development in Infants Later Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorder. [europepmc]
- Beyond Screen Time: A Synergistic Approach to a More Comprehensive Assessment of Family Media Exposure During Early Childhood. [europepmc]
- Maternal perceptions of sleep problems among children and mothers during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Israel. [europepmc]
- Sleep Disturbances and Atopic Dermatitis: Relationships, Methods for Assessment, and Therapies. [europepmc]
- Pediatric sleep health: It matters, and so does how we define it. [europepmc]
Related