The initial development and validation study of the Sleep Disorders Inventory for Students

Eight-hundred and twenty-one students from three-through-18 years of age participated in the development and validation of the Sleep Disorders Inventory for Students (SDIS). This rating scale was designed to measure five sleep disorders that interfere with academic and behavioral success: Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS), Narcolepsy (N), Periodic Limb Movement Disorder (PLMD), Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS), and Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome (DSPS). The SDIS was developed to assist school and clinical psychologists screen students for five sleep disorders in order to identify high risk students and refer them for diagnosis and treatment.;Content, construct, and criterion-related validity, as well as internal consistency and test-retest reliability were conducted on the SDIS. The results of construct validity revealed strong support for a four factor model for young children between 3-and-10 years (OSAS, Excessive Daytime Sleepiness, PLMD, and DSPS). There was strong support for a five factor model (OSAS, Narcolepsy, PLMD/RLS, DSPS, and EDS) for students between 11- and 18-years of age. Discriminant validity (predictive validity) for the SDIS - Children's Form demonstrated an 86% hit rate in predicting the students who had a medical diagnosis of a sleep disorder. There was a 96% predictive hit rate for the SDIS - Adolescent Form.;Reliability testing revealed high internal consistency for the overall inventory and the subscales for both the Children's and Adolescent forms. Test-retest reliability also was high for both forms.;ANOVAs demonstrated that students in special educational programs exhibited significantly more sleep problems than students in General Education or Gifted programs. Furthermore, students with mental health (DSM-IV) diagnoses demonstrated more sleep problems than students without mental health diagnoses.;Parents reported a significant decrease in their children's behavior problems after the sleep disorder had been corrected and significant improvements in GPA for reading, math, and written language post-treatment. It is believed that the use of the SDIS in educational and clinical settings could improve the identification process for students with harmful sleep disorders. These findings indicated that if children with sleep disorders can be identified and treated early, significant improvements could occur in their academic and behavioral functioning.