Pre-Sleep Arousal Scale (PSAS): Translation and Evaluation of Its Psychometric Properties in an Arabic Version

Aseel AlSaleh,1 Waqar Husain,2 Khaled Trabelsi,3,4 Hadeel Ghazzawi,5 Achraf Ammar,6,7 Zahra Saif,8 Seithikurippu R Pandi-Perumal,9,10 Maha M AlRasheed,11 Ahmed S BaHammam,12,13 Haitham Jahrami8,14 1Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Arabian Gulf University, Manama, Bahrain; 2Department of Humanities, COMSATS University Islamabad, Islamabad Campus, Islamabad, Pakistan; 3High Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax, 3000, Tunisia; 4Research Laboratory: Education, Motricity, Sport and Health, EM2S, LR19JS01, University of Sfax, Sfax, 3000, Tunisia; 5Nutrition and Food Technology Department, Agriculture School, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan; 6Department of Training and Movement Science, Institute of Sport Science, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, 55099, Germany; 7Research Laboratory, Molecular Bases of Human Pathology, LR19ES13, Faculty of Medicine of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax, 3000, Tunisia; 8Department of Psychiatry, Government Hospitals, Manama, Bahrain; 9Centre for Research and Development, Chandigarh University, Mohali, Punjab, 140413, India; 10Division of Research and Development, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab, 144411, India; 11Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia; 12The University Sleep Disorders Center, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, King Saud University, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 13King Saud University Medical City, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 14Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Arabian Gulf University, Manama, BahrainCorrespondence: Haitham Jahrami, Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Arabian Gulf University, Manama, Bahrain, Email [email protected]: The Pre-Sleep Arousal Scale (PSAS) is a well-recognized instrument utilized for measuring cognitive and somatic arousal before sleep. Although the PSAS is useful, an Arabic version of the scale has not yet been developed and validated. The current study aimed to translate the PSAS into Arabic language and evaluate its psychometric properties, such as reliability and validity, in an Arabic-speaking population.Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 438 participants who completed the Arabic version of the PSAS, along with other validated measures of insomnia, anxiety, and sleep effort.Results: The results indicated that the Arabic version of the PSAS maintained the original scale’s two-factor structure. The factor loadings for PSAS-Cognitive ranged from 0.57 to 0.75, and for PSAS-Somatic, from 0.45 to 0.70, with all loadings being statistically significant (p < 0.001). The Arabic version of the PSAS exhibited high internal consistency (McDonald’s ω = 0.86; Cronbach’s α = 0.86; Guttman’s λ 2 = 0.86; Greatest Lower Bound = 0.90) and test–retest reliability (ICC = 0.88) over two weeks. The PSAS demonstrated good concurrent and convergent validity. We documented significant large differences between individuals with “no insomnia” and those with “insomnia” symptoms across cognitive, somatic, and total pre-sleep arousal (all p < 0.001). The insomnia group consistently scored higher scores for PSAP and its subscales.Conclusion: These findings suggest that the Arabic version of the PSAS is a reliable and valid tool for assessing pre-sleep arousal in Arabic-speaking individuals.Keywords: Arabic version, insomnia, pre-sleep arousal, PSAS, psychometric properties, reliability, validity