Sleep disturbance is a common phenomenon in childhood. Age is a very important factor for sleep habits and sleep quantity [9]. Studies have reported a variety of prevalence rates. Some studies found sleep problems in 15-25% of children of preschool and primary school age [12,16]. Others report prevalence rates of 40-45% in children of the same age [11]. In contrast, Rona and coworkers [17] found sleep problems in only 1-4% of children between 5 and 11 years of age. These differences are primarily due to methodological factors, such as the use of different interviews, brief questionnaires, and sleep survey instruments which lack reliability and validity. Furthermore, the structure of these pediatric sleep-related questionnaires varies widely [6,4]. Only few sleep survey tools for school-aged children screen both medical and behavior-based sleep disorders. Furthermore, most of these tools are not based on any of the standardized classification systems of clinical sleep disorders, such as the International Classification of Sleep Disorders [1].Despite their high prevalence, sleep disturbances are often ignored or overlooked. Even pediatricians often fail to recognize sleep problems in children [13] and instead misdiagnose them as concentration problems, hyperactivity, or behavioral abnormalities [14]. For this reason, it is important to promote the application of reliable diagnostic tools.So far, no diagnostic tool based on any of the standardized classification systems of sleep disorders has been available in German. Furthermore, there are no instruments that yield a consistent and reliable diagnosis. In the English-speaking world, the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ) is a well-established, valid, and reliable parent-report sleep screening questionnaire [15]. The CSHQ was validated in a sample of 469 healthy children and 154 children diagnosed with sleep disorders between the ages of 4 and 10 years. Its psychometric characteristics indicate that it is an appropriate screening instrument for sleep problems in children. The questionnaire yields both a total score and eight subscale scores reflecting the key sleep domains that the major medical and behavioral sleep disorders in this age group encompass (sleep anxiety, bedtime resistance, night-waking, sleep duration, sleep-onset delay, daytime sleepiness, sleep disordered breathing, parasomnias). According to Owens [15], the CSHQ has an adequate internal consistency in both a community sample (p=0.68) and a clinical sample (p=0.78) and an acceptable test-retest reliability (range: 0.62-0.79). In order to make this powerful diagnostic tool accessible to the German-speaking population, we translated the CSHQ into German.In the present study, we validated the German version of the questionnaire (CSHQ-DE) in a German sample of children between the ages of 4 and 10 years by comparing a non-clinical with a clinical sample. We present preliminary results with regard to reliability and validity of the CSHQ-DE as well as cut-off scores of the subscales. Methods Par...

Introduction: Sleep disturbances are common in adolescents and adversely affect performance, social contact, and susceptibility to stress. We investigated the hypothesis of a relationship between sleep and health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and applied self- and proxy ratings. Materials and Methods: The sample comprised 92 adolescents aged 11–17 years. All participants and their parents completed a HRQoL measure and the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC). Children with SDSC T-scores above the normal range (above 60) were classified as poor sleepers. Results: According to self- and proxy ratings, good sleepers reported significantly higher HRQoL than poor sleepers. Sleep disturbances were significantly higher and HRQoL significantly lower in self- as compared to parental ratings. Parent-child agreement was higher for subscales measuring observable aspects. Girls experienced significantly stronger sleep disturbances and lower self-rated HRQoL than boys. Discussion: Our findings support the positive relationship of sleep and HRQoL. Furthermore, parents significantly underestimate sleep disturbances and overestimate HRQoL in their children.

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In adolescence, the circadian preference shifts toward eveningness orientation. Eveningness seems to be negatively correlated with quality of life. The present study investigates influencing factors of this association and proposes a model for the mediating effects of sleep, sleep-related cognitions, and self-efficacy according to chronotype. The sample comprised N = 280 adolescents (172 girls) aged 14-16 yrs (mean = 15.19, SD = .76). Circadian preference, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), sleep disturbances, sleep-related dysfunctional cognitions, and general perceived self-efficacy were assessed online. Morning-orientated adolescents reported significantly higher HRQoL and less insomnia symptoms compared with evening-oriented chronotypes. In the total sample, insomnia symptoms mediated the relationship of chronotype and HRQoL. The strongest predictor of HRQoL in evening types was the degree of sleep-related dysfunctional cognitions. HRQoL in morning types was most strongly predicted by general self-efficacy, i.e., the global confidence in coping abilities. The findings support a negative relationship of eveningness and HRQoL in adolescents. Insomnia symptoms were identified to be mediating factors in this relationship. The influence of the mediating factors on HRQoL differed between morning and evening types. The model provides implications of how to enhance HRQoL in adolescents according to their circadian preference.

However, frequency should also be taken into account as the results of Sweileh and colleagues showed with 12.8% of the students having nightmares 1-2 times a week, 2.5% having nightmares 3-4 nights a week, whereas 3.5% of students suffered from nightmares almost every night [5]. In the study of Schredl (2003) 52.2% of students experienced nightmares once a month or more often, whereas 12.1% reported that nightmares occur at least once a week. This broad range of prevalence rates is often based on question type and the absence of the awakening criterion [6].Various other factors are associated with nightmares and nightmare frequency. Over all, woman report more often nightmares than men also in students [7][8][9]. Mental disorders as anxiety or post traumatic stress disorder are often associated or the underlying disorder [10,11]. Furthermore, significant correlations between nightmares and insomnia or sleep quality complaints have been reported by various studies also including students [6,4,5] affecting the dreamer [6].In addition, Schredl (2003) compared the effects of trait and state factors on nightmare frequency in mainly psychology students. Neuroticism and thinness of boundaries were related to nightmare frequency. Beyond that, state factors as well as trait factors affected nightmare frequency; besides the effect of current stress. Students are faced with multiple challenging facets of their lives such as changing their place of residence, new city, new classes, later on exams, work, and relationships. The amount of requirements often leads to stress and sleep problems [12,13].Besides high school graduation, self-efficacy is a predictor of academic success [14]. Self-efficacy is the ability to manage future behaviour and the expectation that a person has toward actions mastered by self-competence. Bandura, suggests that students' beliefs in their self-efficacy, to regulate their own competence, play a key role in mastering academic demands [15].Beyond that, Bouchard and colleagues associated low self-efficacy AbstractSleep problems are a common complaint among adults. In university students international studies showed prevalence rates between 4.7 and 36.2% for sleep difficulties and 2-3% of students report nightmares. Previous studies show that nightmares are often associated with insomnia and mental strain, but also with gender. The goal of this study was to outline nightmares, associations with sleep disturbances and mental strain as well as self-efficacy among university students. An amount of 2196 students (70.9% women; mean age 24.16 years) participated in the study. Sleep characteristics, nightmares, mental strain and self-efficacy were assessed by self-report questionnaires. Analyses revealed that more than 24.3% of surveyed students suffered from nightmares, 18.5% reported nightmares more often than once a week and 5.8% suffered from nightmares at least 3 times a week. Moreover, nightmares were associated with symptoms of insomnia and low self-efficacy was significantly associated with an increa...