Translation and validation of the Arabic version of the "Suicide Behavioral Attitude Questionnaire".

INTRODUCTION: Attitudes and knowledge of health professionals are critical dimensions in the management of suicidal behavior. The "Suicide Behavioral Attitude Questionnaire" (SBAQ) was designed in Brazil to measure these variables in paramedical personnel. AIM: To translate and validate the SBAQ in literary Arabic. METHODS: After author-approved translation and back-translation, the Arabic version of the SBAQ was distributed to 125 Tunisian caregivers working in psychiatric departments. Factor analysis and internal consistency were calculated. The stability was measured overtime using the paired Student's T-test. RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha value was 0.741. The adequacy index of the factorization factor Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) of our sample was 0.74. This value was higher than 0.5 which indicates that our data was suited for factor analysis. Bartlett's sphericity test result was significant, rejecting the null hypothesis. Three factors were extracted explaining 50.7% of the overall variance. Cronbach's alpha value for the three subscales was 0.735, 0.713 and 0.798. The instrument had good stability over time. CONCLUSIONS: The Arabic version of the SBAQ showed good reliability and validity allowing its use in Arabic speaking paramedical personnel.

Sleep in first-episode schizophrenia patients, their unaffected siblings and healthy controls: A comparison.

BACKGROUND: Sleep disturbances in schizophrenia are common throughout its course including in the prodrome, and have been mainly attributed to severity of symptoms and antipsychotic use. We aimed to investigate whether early course patients with schizophrenia and young non-psychotic siblings of patients with schizophrenia also show sleep disturbances and whether sleep correlates with symptoms and functioning. METHODS: Three study groups, that is, adults newly diagnosed with schizophrenia (n = 54), young non-psychotic siblings of schizophrenia patients (n = 56) and a sample of healthy controls matched to the patients and siblings (n = 61) were evaluated on Horne and Ostberg Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire, Epworth Sleepiness Scale and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Severity of symptoms and functioning are assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale, respectively. Age, gender, occupation and marital status were regarded as covariates, and differences between the three groups were evaluated using analysis of covariance. RESULTS: Early course schizophrenia patients and non-psychotic siblings of schizophrenia patients showed significantly reduced sleep quality relative to healthy controls (P < .001). Schizophrenia patients had significantly higher daytime sleepiness compared to controls (P < .001). Chronotypes in schizophrenia patients and unaffected siblings did not significantly differ from those of the healthy controls. CONCLUSIONS: Like chronic medicated schizophrenia patients, early course schizophrenia patients and young non-psychotic siblings of individuals with schizophrenia have sleep disturbances. These findings indicate that sleep markers can distinguish unaffected siblings of schizophrenia from healthy controls and serve as an endophenotype for schizophrenia.