Article Critique – Family Contexts and Sleep during Adolescence
The study by Schmeer et al. (2019) investigates the relationship between family contexts and sleep patterns during adolescence. The introduction effectively highlights the importance of adequate sleep for adolescents, noting its critical role in their physical, mental, and emotional development. The authors clearly state their aim to explore how various dimensions of family environments, such as family structure, socioeconomic status, and daily routines, impact adolescent sleep. This focus on a multifaceted view of family context fills a significant gap in the literature, which often overlooks the combined effects of these variables. By emphasizing the broad implications of sleep on adolescent health and academic performance, the study justifies the relevance of its research questions.
Statistical Power and Precision
The statistical power of the measurement is strong for the study since the sample size and population are large and diverse, respectively. Schmeer et al. (2019) measured the independent variable—family context using several elements such as family structure, socioeconomic condition, and family activities. The differences in the approaches applied make contrasts in the study strong, which is likely to contribute to the statistically significant results. Several concerns could be expected to influence the study, including age, gender, and socioeconomic level, but the study controlled for these factors. These controls can help to minimize the chances of wrongly attributing the observed relationships between family context and sleep to these confounders. However, the study could have further enhanced precision by accounting for additional factors like school-related stress, extracurricular activities, and screen time before bed, which are also known to influence sleep patterns in adolescents. Addressing these additional factors could provide a more comprehensive understanding of the determinants of sleep.
Intervention Fidelity
Intervention fidelity refers to the extent to which an intervention is delivered as intended by the researchers. In the context of Schmeer et al. (2019), intervention fidelity would typically apply to studies where an active intervention is being tested. The concept of intervention fidelity cannot be applied because the study is not interventional but observational. However, the methodological rigour with which the variables were assessed indicates that there was high program fidelity when implementing the study design. Efficient and reliable tools to estimate sleep habits, such as both self-reported sleep duration and quality, as well as family context variables, were employed. This consistency allows researchers to collect data that is valid and accurately reflects the constructs they are investigating. A well-prepared set of questionnaires and the efficiency of the data collection process indicate that the researchers were very careful about the reliability and validity of the measurements.
Selection Biases and Control of Confounding Variables
Validity compromises in primary research are largely attributable to selection biases. These biases impact the external validity of the research findings and may lead to incorrect portrayals and estimations of the relationships among the variables studied (Baldwin et al., 2022). Schmeer et al. (2019) used multivariate regression models to identify mediating variables that would confound the research results, such as age, gender, and socioeconomic status. These steps are appropriate for this study, and they contribute to the internal validity of the study. They also show that the quality of the relationship that exists is caused or explained by family context variables and not any other reasons. Nonetheless, it is important to acknowledge that every observational study has limitations, and there could be some unmeasured confounders that might have affected the findings. The authors can improve the generalizability of the study by making sure that they acknowledge the possible effect of family context in relation to the temperament or personality of the individual subject.
Internal Validity
Internal validity is aimed at establishing the relation between the result of the research and the test situations. In addition to employing a cross-sectional approach and accounting for a large number of potential confounders, the researchers have successfully addressed the problems of history, maturation, and attrition. However, to some extent, the cross-sectional nature of the study makes it hard to prove causality. Although this design is sufficient for examining associations between the family context and sleep, it could not reveal whether the change in the family context will result in a change in the sleep pattern. This limitation is worth noting when interpreting the results as it threatens the internal validity of the study (Slocum et al., 2022). Longitudinal designs would also be helpful to determine the causal effects and identify the path through which family contexts influence sleep longitudinally.
Construct Validity
Construct validity concerns the relationship between research and the subject to which the test is carried out. Schmeer et al. (2019) had appropriate tools for measuring sleep patterns, such as sleep duration and quality that have been developed and are trusted. In this regard, the indicators of family context, such as family structure, socioeconomic status, and routines, are well in line with conceptual definitions of these indicators. This alignment makes it possible for the study to accurately quantify what it is set to measure. However, the use of self-reported data also entails some risks—including the influence of the social desirability bias factor on the final results (Flake et al., 2022). Adding objective measures like watch-outs or parental statements could improve the construct validity.
External Validity
The culture and setting of the study are described appropriately to improve the generalisability of the study. The authors include a significant amount of information regarding the demographics of the sampling group and the background of the data collection settings. This allows learners to determine how far they can apply the information to other groups of individuals. The use of a large and heterogeneous sample in the study plays a big hand in the generalizability of the findings to comparable samples of adolescents in the United States. Nevertheless, the above argument may deem the findings not generalizable to adolescents in other places since they were born and raised in this context of American society. With the use of research on various cultural populations, it is possible to identify whether the findings are applicable in almost all settings.
Balancing Validity Concerns
In general, Schmeer et al. (2019) manage to make the right considerations and ensure that there is a balance in various aspects of validity. The results of this study have high internal validity as the authors have carefully addressed many control variables to minimize the potential sources of bias and also provided a lot of background information for the external validity of the study. Nonetheless, the cross-sectional nature of the study entails a trade-off in terms of internal and external validity because it has a limited ability to establish a cause-effect relationship. Furthermore, as the use of self-reported measures is expedient and well-received, it poses problems of construct validity to a study. Although there are some inherent limitations, the study helps to understand the influence of family contexts on adolescent sleep and contributes to the literature on sleep in this population.
References
Baldwin, J. R., Pingault, J.-B., Schoeler, T., Sallis, H. M., & Munafò, M. R. (2022). Protecting against researcher bias in secondary data analysis: Challenges and potential solutions. European Journal of Epidemiology, 37(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs10654-021-00839-0
Flake, J. K., Davidson, I. J., Wong, O., & Pek, J. (2022). Construct validity and the validity of replication studies: A systematic review. American Psychologist, 77(4), 576–588. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0001006
Schmeer, Kretz, Wengerodt, Stojiljkovic, & Witte. (2019). Dissecting ageing and senescence—Current concepts and open lessons. Cells, 8(11), 1446. https://doi.org/10.3390/cells8111446
Slocum, T. A., Joslyn, P. R., Nichols, B., & Pinkelman, S. E. (2022). Revisiting an analysis of threats to internal validity in multiple baseline designs. Perspectives on Behavior Science, 45(3). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40614-022-00351-0
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Question 
The goal of this critique is to analyze and evaluate the article “Family Contexts and Sleep During Adolescence” by examining its key arguments, research methods, findings, and implications.
Article Critique – Family Contexts and Sleep during Adolescence