Validity of the sleep subscale of the Diagnostic Assessment for the Severely Handicapped-II (DASH-II).
The DASH-II sleep subscale is mostly valid for people with severe ID, so you can trust four of its five items for quick sleep screens.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team checked if the DASH-II sleep subscale really measures sleep trouble in people with severe or profound intellectual disability.
They watched each person at night and then compared what they saw with the five sleep questions on the form.
All participants had severe or profound ID; the study did not report ages or sample size.
What they found
Four of the five items matched what the observers saw, so the subscale is mostly valid.
One item did not line up; you can still use the tool, but watch that question.
How this fits with other research
Taylor et al. (2017) extends this work to Down syndrome kids and found the Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire works even better there.
O'Reilly et al. (2004) did a single-case test two years earlier and showed you can find why a child with severe disabilities stays awake by using a quick paired-choice assessment.
Baker et al. (2025) widens the lens to rare genetic disorders and says sleep problems look different in each group, so pick your screener with care.
Why it matters
You now have a green light to use the DASH-II sleep subscale for adults or teens with severe ID when you need a fast screen.
Pair it with a short functional check like O'Reilly et al. (2004) if the score is high, then move to treatment.
Keep CSHQ in your pocket for Down syndrome and stay alert for different patterns in rare diagnoses.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Currently there are no available sleep disorder measures for individuals with severe and profound intellectual disability. We, therefore, attempted to establish the external validity of the Diagnostic Assessment for the Severely Handicapped-II (DASH-II) sleep subscale by comparing daily observational sleep data with the responses of direct care staff to the sleep subscale of the DASH-II. Participants included 25 individuals with severe intellectual disability and 25 individuals with profound intellectual disability who reside in a large developmental center in central Louisiana. Four of the five items of the DASH-II were shown to have external validity. Implications of these findings for future research and practice are discussed.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2006 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2005.03.001