Abstract

KLEIN, John Manuel  and  GONCALVES, Alda. Assessing sleep-wake complaints in school-aged children: portuguese properties and norms of the SWEL. PsicoUSF [online]. 2008, vol.13, n.2, pp.145-154. ISSN 1413-8271.

The present paper aims to analyze psychometric features of the Portuguese Sleep Wake Experience List (SWEL), to obtain norms and data about key sleep complaints for children. This questionnaire evaluates chronic sleep problems categorizing them into six categories of sleep complaints. A total of 900 elementary school students (2nd to 4th grade), 485 girls (53.9%) and 415 boys (46.1%), aged between 7 and 10 years (M = 8.63; SD = .82) were included in this study. The results indicated a good reliability and validity of the questionnaire, making him suitable as a screening tool for epidemiological purposes. The study shows that sleep complaints (14.7%) are a frequent syndrome in school-aged children, and often not reported to the parents and/or physician. In conclusion, the results revealed that the SWEL is a reliable and valid screening instrument for identifying potential sleep problems in Portuguese school-aged children population.

Keywords : Epidemiology; Sleep assessment; Sleep complaints; Sleep-Wake Experience List (SWEL); School-aged children.

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