Validity and reliability of the Sedentary Behavior and Sleep Scale (SBSS) in young Hong Kong Chinese children

Abstract

There is enormous value in advancing the knowledge of lifestyle habits in young children. Parental reports capable of capturing sedentary behavior patterns and sleep habits of young Hong Kong children would undoubtedly be a useful assessment tool. To test the validity and reliability of the Sedentary Behavior and Sleep Scale, we assessed sedentary time and sleep duration in 66 Chinese children (27 boys and 39 girls; 6.7 ± 0.5 yrs) for 4 days with an RT3 accelerometer. Parents completed the SBSS within 8 days of accelerometer collection and at 1-week intervals to assess reliability. We assessed agreement between RT3 accelerometer parental reported total sedentary time and wake time and bedtime for a weekday and weekend day, respectively. Interclass correlation coecients were utilized to assess test-retest reliability. Adequate test-retest reliability was noted for all questions with the exception of screen time during the weekend (ICC 0.59–0.89). When compared with the RT3, the SBSS underestimated sedentary time; the reported wake time and bedtime was slightly earlier and later than the SBSS for both weekday and weekend. ese ndings suggest that the SBSS may be useful as a supplement when using objective measure of sedentary habits and sleep duration.