Validating the Adolescent Sleep Wake Scale for use with young adults

ObjectiveThere is a need for examination of sleep across the entire adolescence to young adulthood developmental period (AYA; ages 12–25 years). The Adolescent Sleep Wake Scale (ASWS) is a 28-item measure of overall subjective sleep quality, including five sleep behavior domains (difficulty going to bed, falling asleep, maintaining sleep, reinitiating sleep, and returning to wakefulness), and has been validated to assess overall sleep quality and insomnia symptoms in adolescents (12–18 years). The current study aimed to examine whether the ASWS could be used to assess sleep across the AYA period by investigating the validity of the measure in a national sample of young adults (ages 19–25) using validated adult sleep measures.Materials and methodsA national sample recruited through Amazon's MTurk (N = 332; Mean age = 23.37 (SD = 1.55); 53.8% female; 51.4% Caucasian) completed an online survey including the ASWS, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). Bivariate correlational analyses were performed to explore convergent and discriminant validity.ResultsThe ASWS total score was strongly correlated with both the PSQI total score (r = −0.68) and ISI (r = −0.71) total score. The subscales of the PSQI, including Sleep Latency, Sleep Disturbance, and Daytime Dysfunction were correlated with corresponding ASWS domains. There were weak correlations with other subscales. Internal consistency was good (α = 0.88).ConclusionsOur results suggest that the ASWS measures areas of sleep problems in a manner consistent with the most frequently utilized self-report assessment in adults and supports the use of the ASWS across AYA.