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Regensburg Insomnia Scale (RIS)


What it is​

The RIS is a 10-item self-report scale designed to assess the cognitive, behavioural, and emotional aspects of psychophysiological insomnia (PI). Psychophysiological insomnia is characterised by heightened arousal and learned associations that prevent sleep — a pattern distinct from insomnia caused primarily by another medical or psychiatric condition.

The RIS was developed specifically to capture both the quantitative (sleep duration, sleep latency) and qualitative (fearful focus on sleep, daytime impact) dimensions of insomnia, making it particularly sensitive to the symptom targets of cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I).

How is it used​

  • Suitable for adults aged 18 and over
  • Takes approximately 3–5 minutes to complete
  • Assesses sleep-related symptoms over the past four weeks
  • Particularly useful for identifying psychophysiological insomnia and monitoring change during CBT-I
  • Can be used at baseline and follow-up to track treatment response

The RIS assesses four factors:

  • Poor sleep depth — disrupted, light, or non-restorative sleep
  • Poor sleep quantity — insufficient sleep duration or prolonged time to fall asleep
  • Fearful focus on insomnia — anxiety and preoccupation about sleep
  • Hypnotics and poor daytime functioning — use of sleep aids and daytime impairment

What do the scores mean?​

Items are scored on a 0–4 scale, with one introductory item about bedtime hours that is not included in the total score (it serves as a plausibility check). The total score ranges from 0 to 40. Higher scores indicate more severe psychophysiological insomnia symptoms.

  • Score of 0–12: Within the normal range; symptoms not consistent with psychophysiological insomnia
  • Score of 13 or above: Indicative of symptoms consistent with psychophysiological insomnia warranting further investigation

In the original validation study (Crönlein et al., 2013), a cut-off score of 12 yielded 97.7% sensitivity and 97.9% specificity, comparing patients with psychophysiological insomnia against healthy controls. The RIS has also shown sensitivity to change following CBT-I, with improvements observed across most subscale items following treatment.

Developer​

The RIS was developed by Crönlein, Langguth, Popp, Lukesch, Pieh, Hajak, and Geisler at the University of Regensburg, Germany.

References:

Crönlein, T., Langguth, B., Popp, R., Lukesch, H., Pieh, C., Hajak, G., & Geisler, P. (2013). Regensburg Insomnia Scale (RIS): A new short rating scale for the assessment of psychological symptoms and sleep in insomnia; study design: development and validation of a new short self-rating scale in a sample of 218 patients suffering from insomnia and 94 healthy controls. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 11, 65.