The psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the Pre-sleep Arousal Scale

Purpose

The aim of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the Pre-sleep Arousal Scale (PSAS), which measures pre-sleep arousal, a significant predictor of insomnia symptoms.

Methods

651 participants were recruited via social media and the Internet. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted in the total sample (65.28% females; Mage1 = 28.09 ± 14.00). Convergent, divergent, incremental, and known-groups validity and internal consistency coefficients were assessed in a subsample of 556 participants (62.77% females; Mage2 = 29.25 ± 14.81). A second separate sample of 88 participants (80.68% females; Mage3 = 22.19 ± 4.98) was used to evaluate three-week test-retest reliability.

Results

The results of factor analysis confirmed the two-factor structure of the Turkish PSAS with cognitive (PSAS-C) and somatic (PSAS-S), similar to the original scale. The correlations of the PSAS with convergent and divergent measures showed that the Turkish form had good convergent and acceptable divergent validity. PSAS-C and PSAS-S were able to explain an 18% additional variance in insomnia severity beyond depression and anxiety, an 18% additional variance in depression beyond insomnia severity, and a 35% additional variance in anxiety beyond insomnia severity. Moreover, insomnia patients had significantly higher PSAS-C and PSAS-S scores than good sleepers. Finally, the PSAS, PSAS-C, and PSAS-S had satisfactory internal consistency coefficients (α = 0.92, 0.91, and 0.86, respectively) and three-week test-retest correlations (ICC = 0.82, 0.82, and 0.71, respectively).

Conclusion

The Turkish form of the PSAS was a valid and reliable measure of pre-sleep arousal and can be utilized in sleep studies.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s41105-023-00483-z.

Life is short, stay awake: Death anxiety and bedtime procrastination

In the present study, the relation between bedtime procrastination and death anxiety, and also the moderator roles of gender and purpose in life were investigated. Data were collected from 245 participants through an online survey. The results revealed that gender, but not purpose in life, moderated the relation between death anxiety and bedtime procrastination. The effect of death anxiety on bedtime procrastination was significant only for males. Further, this effect was still significant even after controlling circadian energy and self-control. The findings can be explained based on the Terror Management Theory. Bedtime procrastination can be considered risk-taking behavior, and it functions as a world view for males. Moreover, males might have regarded sleep as a waste of time, and therefore, delayed bedtime to increase their non-sleeping lifetime.