Modification of the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Use the 23-item four-factor CSHQ short form when screening sleep problems in autistic kids .
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team took the 33-item Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire and trimmed it for autistic kids.
They asked 281 parents of 4- to young learners with ASD to fill out the form.
Number-crunching kept only the 23 items that hung together in four clear groups.
What they found
The new short form still covers bedtime resistance, sleep anxiety, night waking, and daytime sleepiness.
It takes parents about five minutes to finish and gives you a quick red-flag score.
How this fits with other research
Tse et al. (2021) did the same shrink-and-check trick with the LSEAQ teacher form for mainstream primary pupils.
Both studies show that long checklists can be slimmed without losing punch.
Murphy et al. (2014) likewise used factor analysis to build the ERSSQ for emotion and social skills, proving the method works across domains.
Why it matters
Sleep problems are common in ASD and bleed into daytime behavior. With this 23-item screener you can spot trouble in minutes, decide if a full sleep assessment is needed, and track progress after you start an intervention. Tape it to your intake folder or email it before the first visit—parents complete it while waiting.
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02At a glance
03Original 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.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2018 · doi:10.1007/s10803-018-3520-2