The Anxiety and Preoccupation about Sleep Questionnaire (APSQ)

Background:

There has been a steady growth in interest in the importance of intrusive and worrisome thinking in the maintenance of insomnia. Given the importance of sleep-related worry in chronic insomnia, it is vital for research and clinical purposes to develop and psychometrically validate measures that specifically pinpoint such worry. Several measures have already been developed and, at least partly, validated. Given the potential limitations of earlier instruments, the Anxiety and Preoccupation about Sleep Questionnaire (APSQ) appears for two reasons to be a promising measure. First, the APSQ is short and designed to index the intensity of worry specifically for insomnia. This might turn the APSQ into a potentially important instrument for research and clinical purposes. Second, the APSQ is sensitive to the effects of treatment. Third, the APSQ captures worry both at nighttime and daytime, and, based on recent psychological models underscoring insomnia as a 24-hour phenomenon, the APSQ might thus be an improvement compared to the previously published instruments. No other instrument tapping sleep-related worry for insomnia has a focus on both nighttime and daytime worry.

Psychometrics:

Two-factor solution (70.7% of the variance): worries about the consequences of poor sleep and worries about the uncontrollability of sleep. First factor: items 1-5 and 7. Second factor: items 6 and 8-10.
Internal consistency: the total APSQ scale α = .93, for the first factor α = .91, and for the second factor α = .86. Discriminant validity between those with insomnia, poor sleep and normal sleep. Associated with subjective sleep parameters and daytime impairment.

Author of Tool:

Allison G. Harvey and Nicole Tang

Key references:

Primary use / Purpose:

To index sleep-related worry in those with insomnia or associated sleep disorders.