Development and validation of the Italian version of the athlete sleep behavior questionnaire (ASBQ-IT): a national survey on recovery strategies and sleep behaviors in Italian athletes

Purpose: This study aims to translate and validate the Italian version of the athlete sleep behavior questionnaire (ASBQ). Moreover, this study also aims to investigate the use of recovery strategies in Italian athletes and their association with sleep behaviors. Methods: After the forward–backward translations and clarity evaluation, the ASBQ-IT was administered to 402 Italian athletes, between 14 and 60 years old. Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega, while for the test–retest temporal stability, a subsample of 69 athletes repeated the questionnaire after 14 days. Finally, comparisons were made according to the ASBQ-IT scores, as well as between independent factors, such as type of sport and use of recovery strategies. Results: In reliability analysis, 388 athletes (25 ± 8 years, 37.3% females) correctly completed all the items. McDonald’s ω and Cronbach’s α estimates of 0.638 and 0.621 suggested acceptable reliability, while the test–retest reliability showed a sufficiently accurate intraclass correlation of 0.819. Athletes with a “bad sleep behavior” according to the ASBQ were more likely to participate in a team sport (64% vs. 53%, p = 0.017), have suffered from injury in the last month (30% vs. 18%, p = 0.006), and report using recovery strategies (52% vs. 40%, p = 0.018), in particular local ice (29% vs. 16%, p < 0.001). Conclusions: The proposed version of the ASBQ-IT showed acceptable internal consistency and temporal stability, therefore encouraging its use in Italian athletes to assess sleep behaviors and promote good practices and tailored sleep hygiene interventions.