Dysfunctional Beliefs and Attitudes about Sleep (DBAS): Validation of a Brief Version (DBAS-16)

Psychometric study of a patient-reported measure of sleep related beliefs based on existing clinical and research databases.

A total of 283 individuals (60% women; mean age of 46.6 years old) with insomnia, including 124 clinical patients and 159 research participants. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Participants completed the DBAS, Insomnia Severity Index, Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories, daily sleep diaries for 2 weeks, and 3 nights of polysomnography (research sample only) as part of a baseline assessment. The DBAS-16 was found to be reliable, as evidenced by adequate internal consistency (Cronbach alpha = 0.77 for clinical and 0.79 for research samples) and temporal stability (r = 0.83). The factor structure was similar to the original 30-item version, with 4 factors emerging and reflecting: (a) perceived consequences of insomnia, (b) worry/helplessness about insomnia, (c) sleep expectations, and (d) medication. DBAS total scores were significantly correlated with other self-report measures of insomnia severity, anxiety, and depression, but not with specific sleep parameters.