Development of the Nighttime Parenting Scale: Differentiating nighttime versus general parenting practices and their impact on youth sleep health

Objectives: The current study provides a novel method of assessing the impact of nighttime parenting practices on youth sleep health during the sensitive transition from childhood to adolescence (ie., peri-puberty). Specifically, we aimed to advance the measurement of nighttime parenting by developing a conceptually driven questionnaire for use in research and clinical settings. Method: A total of 625 parents (67.9% mothers) of peripubertal youth (age M = 11.6, SD = 1.31) were re-cruited online and completed self-report questionnaires. The sample was primarily White (67.4%), followed by 16.5% Black, 13.1% Latinx, and 9.6% Asian. Factor structure was examined through four empirically-driven stages (ie, exploratory factor analyses, confirmatory factor analyses, examining internal and test-retest reliability, and indices of validity). Furthermore, the current study sought to validate nighttime parenting as a unique construct by exploring associations with peripubertal youth sleep health. Results: A factor structure consisting of six dimensions of nighttime parenting was established (ie, night-time supportiveness, hostility, physical control, limit-setting, media monitoring, and co-sleeping behaviors). Furthermore, the current measure demonstrated strong psychometric properties. Finally, the established dimensions were cross-sectionally associated with youth sleep health indices. Conclusions: This study extends previous research by examining the influence of distinct domains of par-enting practices that specifically occur at nighttime and how these differentially relate to youth sleep health. Results suggest that intervention and/or prevention programs targeting sleep should place emphasis on fostering positive parenting at nighttime as a strategy for creating an evening environment that is conducive to optimizing youth sleep health. & COPY; 2023 National Sleep Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. All rights reserved.