A longitudinal examination of the measurement properties and invariance of the Sleep Condition Indicator in Chinese healthcare students

Runtang MENG, Yiwei YING, Yi LUO, Mengyi HUANG, Christopher B. MILLER, Yuhuan XIE, Yuxin JIA, Lianxia FAN, Wukang CHEN, Jiayu YI, Nongnong YANG, Jiale XU, Chen JIANG, Liping LU, Haiyan MA, Karen SPRUYT, Esther Yuet Ying LAU

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlespeer-review

Abstract

Background: The Sleep Condition Indicator (SCI), an insomnia measurement tool based on the updated Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) criteria with sound psychometric properties when applied in various populations, was evaluated here among healthcare students longitudinally, to demonstrate its measurement properties and invariance in this particularly high-risk population. 

Methods: Healthcare students of a Chinese university were recruited into this two-wave longitudinal study, completing the simplified Chinese version of the SCI (SCI-SC), Chinese Regularity, Satisfaction, Alertness, Timing, Efficiency, Duration (RU_SATED-C) scale, Chinese Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4-C), and sociodemographic variables questionnaire (Q-SV) between September and November 2022. Structural validity, measurement invariance (MI), convergent and discriminant validity, internal consistency, and test–retest reliability of the SCI-SC were examined. Subgroups of gender, age, home location, part-time job, physical exercise, and stress-coping strategy were surveyed twice to test cross-sectional and longitudinal MI. 

Results: We identified 343 valid responses (62.9% female, mean age = 19.650 ± 1.414 years) with a time interval of seven days. The two-factor structure was considered satisfactory (comparative fit index = 0.953–0.989, Tucker–Lewis index = 0.931–0.984, root means square error of approximation = 0.040–0.092, standardized root mean square residual = 0.039–0.054), which mostly endorsed strict invariance except for part-time job subgroups, hence establishing longitudinal invariance. The SCI-SC presented acceptable convergent validity with the RU_SATED-C scale (r ≥ 0.500), discriminant validity with the PHQ-4-C (0.300 ≤ r < 0.500), internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.811–0.835, McDonald’s omega = 0.805–0.832), and test–retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.829). 

Conclusion: The SCI-SC is an appropriate screening instrument available for assessing insomnia symptoms among healthcare students, and the promising measurement properties provide additional evidence about validity and reliability for detecting insomnia in healthcare students. Copyright © 2024 The Author(s).

Original languageEnglish
Article number518
JournalBMC Psychiatry
Volume24
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2024

Citation

Meng, R., Ying, Y., Luo, Y., Huang, M., Miller, C. B., Xie, Y., Jia, Y., Fan, L., Chen, W., Yi, J., Yang, N., Xu, J., Jiang, C., Lu, L., Ma, H., Spruyt, K., & Lau, E. Y. Y. (2024). A longitudinal examination of the measurement properties and invariance of the Sleep Condition Indicator in Chinese healthcare students. BMC Psychiatry, 24, Article 518. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-024-05844-7

Keywords

  • Sleep Condition Indicator
  • Insomnia symptoms
  • Measurement properties
  • Measurement invariance
  • Observational longitudinal design
  • Healthcare students

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