7-Week SSP & 2-Week Pre-College Program are still accepting applications until April 10, or earlier if all course waitlists are full. 4-Week SSP Application is closed.

Celebrating 150 years of Harvard Summer School. Learn about our history.

Why You Should Make a Good Night’s Sleep a Priority

Poor sleep habits and sleep deprivation are serious problems for most high school and college students. This guide offers important tips on how—and why—to improve your sleep hygiene.

The time you spend in high school and college can be both fun and rewarding. At the same time, these can be some of the busiest years of your life.

Balancing all the demands on your time—a full course load, extracurricular activities, and socializing with friends—can be challenging. And if you also work or have family commitments, it can feel like there just aren’t enough hours in the day. 

With so many competing priorities, sacrificing sleep may feel like the only way to get everything done. 

Despite the sleepiness you might feel the next day, one late night probably won’t have a major impact on your well-being. But regularly short-changing yourself on quality sleep can have serious implications for school, work, and your physical and mental health.

Alternatively, prioritizing a regular sleep schedule can make these years healthier, less stressful, and more successful long-term.

The sleep you need versus the sleep you get

According to the National Sleep Foundation , high school students (ages 14-17) need about eight to 10 hours of sleep each night. For young adults (ages 18 to 25), the range is need between seven and nine hours.

How do you know how much sleep you need within this range? 

According to Dr. Edward Pace-Schott, Harvard Summer School and Harvard Medical School faculty member and sleep expert, you can answer that question simply by observing how much you sleep when you don’t need to get up.

“When you’ve been on vacation for two weeks, how are you sleeping during that second week? How long are you sleeping? If you’re sleeping eight or nine hours when you don’t have any reason to get up, then chances are you need that amount or close to that amount of sleep,” says Pace-Schott. 

Most students, however, get far less sleep than the recommended amount. 

Seventy to 96 percent of college students get less than eight hours of sleep each week night. And over half of college students sleep less than seven hours per night. The numbers are similar for high school students; 73 percent of high school students get between seven and seven and a half hours of sleep .

Of course, many students attempt to catch up on lost sleep by sleeping late on the weekends. Unfortunately, this pattern is neither healthy nor a true long-term solution to sleep deprivation. 

And what about those students who say that they function perfectly well on just a couple hours of sleep?

“There are very few individuals who are so-called short sleepers, people who really don’t need more than six hours of sleep. But, there are a lot more people who claim to be short sleepers than there are real short sleepers,” says Pace-Schott.

Consequences of sleep deprivation

The consequences of sleep deprivation are fairly well established but may still be surprising.

For example, did you know that sleep deprivation can create the same level of cognitive impairment as drinking alcohol? 

According to the CDC , staying awake for 18 hours can have the same effect as a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.05 percent. Staying awake for 24 hours can equate to a BAC of 0.10 percent (higher than the legal limit of 0.08 percent). 

And according to research by AAA , drowsy driving causes an average of 328,000 motor vehicle accidents each year in the US. Drivers who sleep less than five hours per night are more than five times as likely to have a crash as drivers who sleep for seven hours or more.  

Other signs of chronic sleep deprivation include:

  • Daytime sleepiness and fatigue
  • Irritability and short temper
  • Mood changes
  • Trouble coping with stress
  • Difficulty focusing, concentrating, and remembering

Over the long term, chronic sleep deprivation can have a serious impact on your physical and mental health. Insufficient sleep has been linked, for example, to weight gain and obesity, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes.

The impact on your mental health can be just as serious. Harvard Medical School has conducted numerous studies, including research by Pace-Schott, demonstrating a link between sleep deprivation and mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression.

Earn college credits with a summer course at Harvard Summer School.

Importance of sleep for high school and college students

As difficult as it is to prioritize sleep, the advantages of going to bed early and getting quality sleep every night are very real.

College students who prioritize sleep are likely to see an improvement in their academic performance.

If you are well rested, you will experience less daytime sleepiness and fatigue. You may need less caffeine to stay awake during those long lectures. And you will also find you are more productive, more attentive to detail, and able to concentrate better while studying.

But the connection between sleep and academic performance goes well beyond concentration and attentiveness.

“Sleep is very important for consolidating memories. In any sort of experimental setting, study results show better performance if you learn material and then sleep on it, instead of remaining awake. So there’s lots and lots of evidence now indicating that sleep promotes memory strengthening and memory consolidation,” says Pace-Schott. 

There is also a strong connection between sleep quality and stress.

Students who prioritize sleep are better able to cope with the stress that comes with being an active student. 

“It’s a vicious circle where the more stressed you get, the less you sleep, and the less you sleep, the more stressed you get. And in the long term, that can lead to serious psychiatric problems,” says Pace-Schott.

In the worst case scenario, the combination of lack of sleep and stress can lead to mental health disorders such as depression, general anxiety disorder, and potentially even post-traumatic stress disorder.

But prioritizing sleep can create a positive feedback loop as well. 

Establishing a sleep schedule and adequate sleep duration can improve your ability to cope with stress. Being active and productive will help you get more done throughout the day, which also reduces feelings of stress.

And the less stressed you feel during the day, the better you will sleep at night. 

Tips for getting more sleep as a student

The key to getting a good night’s sleep is establishing healthy sleep habits, also known as sleep hygiene.

The first step is deciding to make sleep a priority. 

Staying ahead of coursework and avoiding distractions and procrastination while you study is key to avoiding the need for late night study sessions. And prioritizing sleep may mean leaving a party early or choosing your social engagements carefully. 

Yet the reward—feeling awake and alert the next morning—will reinforce that positive choice. 

The next step is establishing healthy bedtime and daytime patterns to promote good quality sleep.

Pace-Schott offers the following tips on steps you can take to create healthy sleep hygiene:

  • Limit caffeine in close proximity to bed time. College students should also avoid alcohol intake, which disrupts quality sleep.
  • Avoid electronic screens (phone, laptop, tablet, desktop) within an hour of bedtime. 
  • Engage in daily physical exercise, but avoid intense exercise within two hours of bedtime.
  • Establish a sleep schedule. Be as consistent as possible in your bedtime and rise time, and get exposure to morning sunlight.
  • Establish a “wind-down” routine prior to bedtime.
  • Limit use of bed for daily activities other than sleep (e.g., TV, work, eating)

Of course, college students living in dorms or other communal settings may find their sleep disturbed by circumstances beyond their control: a poor-quality mattress, inability to control the temperature of your bedroom, or noisy roommates, for example. 

But taking these active steps to promote healthy sleep will, barring these other uncontrollable circumstances, help you fall asleep faster, stay asleep, and get a more restorative sleep.

And for students who are still not convinced of the importance of sleep, Pace-Schott says that personal observation is the best way to see the impact of healthy sleep habits. 

“Keep a sleep diary for a week. Pay attention to your sleep in a structured way. And be sure to record how you felt during the day. This can really help you make the link between how you slept the night before and how you feel during the day. It’s amazing how much you will learn about your sleep and its impact on your life.” 

Interested in summer at Harvard? Learn more about our summer programs.

Request Information

What You Need to Know About Pre-College Program Activities

Rigorous, fast-paced—and a lot of fun.

Harvard Division of Continuing Education

The Division of Continuing Education (DCE) at Harvard University is dedicated to bringing rigorous academics and innovative teaching capabilities to those seeking to improve their lives through education. We make Harvard education accessible to lifelong learners from high school to retirement.

Harvard Division of Continuing Education Logo

Psychosocial Correlates of Insomnia Among College Students

ORIGINAL RESEARCH — Volume 19 — September 15, 2022

Yves Paul Vincent Mbous, MEng, BSc Hons, BSc 1 ; Mona Nili, PhD, PharmD, MS, MBA 1 ; Rowida Mohamed, MSc, BPharm 1 ; Nilanjana Dwibedi, PhD, MBA, BPharm 1 ( View author affiliations )

Suggested citation for this article: Mbous YPV, Nili M, Mohamed R, Dwibedi N. Psychosocial Correlates of Insomnia Among College Students. Prev Chronic Dis 2022;19:220060. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd19.220060 .

PEER REVIEWED

Introduction

Acknowledgments, author information.

What is already known on this topic?

Despite the well-known prevalence of insomnia among college students, its association with mental health remains a topic of considerable interest, particularly among this vulnerable population constantly adapting to the demands of the academic world.

What is added by this report?

We show that at least a quarter of college students experience insomnia, and we uncover its predominant association with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and depression.

What are the implications for public health practice?

The implications demand a serious consideration of mental health during attempts to improve students’ sleep quality.

Among college students, insomnia remains a topic of research focus, especially as it pertains to its correlates and the extent of its association with mental conditions. This study aimed to shed light on the chief predictors of insomnia among college students.

A cross-sectional survey on a convenience sample of college students (aged ≥18 years) at 2 large midwestern universities was conducted from March 18 through August 23, 2019. All participants were administered validated screening instruments used to screen for insomnia, depression, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Insomnia correlates were identified by using multivariate logistic regression.

Overall, 26.4% of students experienced insomnia; 41.2% and 15.8% had depression and had ADHD symptoms, respectively. Students with depression (adjusted odds ratio, 9.54; 95% CI, 4.50–20.26) and students with ADHD (adjusted odds ratio, 3.48; 95% CI, 1.48–8.19) had significantly higher odds of insomnia. The odds of insomnia were also significantly higher among employed students (odds ratio, 2.10; 95% CI, 1.05–4.18).

This study showed an association between insomnia and mental health conditions among college students. Policy efforts should be directed toward primary and secondary prevention programs that enforce sleep education interventions, particularly among employed college students and those with mental illnesses.

The National Sleep Foundation and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society guidelines recommend 7 to 9 hours of sleep for young adults (1). However, at least 60% of college students have poor quality sleep and garner, on average, 7 hours of sleep per night (2). Previous research showed that up to 75% of college students reported occasional sleep disturbances, while 15% reported overall poor sleep quality (3). In another work, among a sample of 191 undergraduate students, researchers found that 73% of students exhibited some form of sleep problem, with a higher frequency among women than men (4).

Direct consequences of poor sleep among college students include increased tension, irritability, depression, confusion, reduced life satisfaction, or poor academic performance (4). Evidence abounds of the positive correlation between academic failure, low grade point average, negative academic performance, and poor sleep quality patterns (5). As these complications arise early in the life of these students, they might develop into serious ailments as they grow older (high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke) and thereby create an even bigger public health problem. Because insomnia weakens physical and mental functions in addition to academic performances, reduced sleep quality could also lead to mental issues or vice versa (6).

Erratic schedules and lifestyle adjustments coupled with the strain of daily occupation are partly to blame for the general dissatisfaction with sleep quality and duration, because work obligations reduce hours of sleep among college students (2). However, in light of these consequences, it behooves the scientific community to identify modifiable factors associated with insomnia among college students that could help spur countermeasures or design lifestyle interventions to ameliorate the overall well-being of college students. In this study, we strived to identify environmental, mental, and behavioral factors affecting insomnia among college students. The intersection between behavioral factors and mental health is also evaluated in this work because physical activity, particularly, has been shown to mitigate insomnia (7). Because the relationship between insomnia and some of the understudied mental conditions could be bidirectional and given that cause-and-effect will not be established in this study, insomnia was labeled a criterion variable.

Study design, sampling, eligibility criteria

A cross-sectional design was used for this study. Convenience and snowball sampling strategy methods were used for sampling. West Virginia University and Marshall University students aged 18 years or older and able to read and write in English were eligible to participate. Study approval was acquired from the Institutional Review Board of West Virginia University. Consent for participation and anonymity were emphasized before the questionnaire’s distribution, along with instructions for completion. No incentives were provided for participants in this study.

Instruments and measures

Demographic characteristics included sex (male, female), age, race (White; All others, which included Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and any other racial group), marital status (married, not married), educational level (undergraduate, professional or graduate), employment status (employed, unemployed), physical activity (<2 d/wk, ≥2 d/wk), caffeine consumption (<6 cups/d, ≥6 cups/d, because previous research established a daily upper limit of 6 cups to maintain a healthy heart and blood pressure [8]), alcohol use (never, some days or every day), smoking status (yes, no), and the number of chronic non–mental health conditions (guided by the US Health and Human Services’ strategic framework [9], and included arthritis, asthma, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Crohn disease, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, epilepsy, heart disease, HIV/AIDS, and multiple sclerosis).

The criterion variable in this study was a diagnosis of insomnia as assessed by the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). The ISI uses 7 items to evaluate the severity of insomnia. The first 3 items assess severity of sleep onset, sleep maintenance, and early morning awakening problems, and the last 4 examine sleep satisfaction, sleep disturbance, sleep worry, and sleep interference in daily life (10). Each item is graded on a 0 to 4 Likert scale, and the total score is calculated as the sum of each item, yielding minimum and maximum values of 0 and 28, respectively. Total score categories are as follows: 0 to 7 = no clinically significant insomnia; 8 to 14 = subthreshold insomnia; 15 to 21 = clinical insomnia (moderate severity); 22 to 28 = clinical insomnia (severe). In this study, ISI scores were divided into 2 categories based on a cutoff point of 15: patients with clinically significant insomnia (cutoff point of 15 or more) and participants with no clinically significant insomnia (cutoff point less than 15). This threshold point was motivated by the validity of this scale as a primary care diagnostic tool at a cutoff score of 14 (11).

Instruments to screen for depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were used to evaluate mental health. For depression, we used the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), a self-reported questionnaire that contains 9 items incorporating the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) IV criteria for probable major depressive disorder. Each item can be scored from 0 through 3, and total scores can vary from 0 to 27, with cutoff points of 5, 10, 15, and 20, corresponding respectively to diagnoses of mild, moderate, moderately severe, and severe depressive symptoms. Given the high correlation observed in the literature between the third item of the PHQ-9 (also assessing sleep disturbance) and various sleep scales (12,13), we removed this item before calculating the overall score. PHQ-9 scores were divided into 2 categories: participants with clinically significant depressive symptoms (cutoff point of 8 or more) and participants with no clinically significant depressive symptoms (cutoff point less than 8). This was dictated by the sensitivity and specificity of the PHQ-9 at this cutoff score as a satisfactory diagnostic tool for depression in primary and secondary care settings (14).

For ADHD, Part A of the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS) was used. Only Part A of the questionnaire contains the 6 predictive measures of ADHD symptom severity (15). Items use a Likert scale (never, rarely, sometimes, often, very often). For items 1 to 3, ratings of sometimes, often, or very often were assigned 1 point (ratings of never or rarely were assigned 0 points). For the remaining items, ratings of often or very often were assigned 1 point (ratings of never, rarely, or sometimes were assigned 0 points). A sum of scores of 4 or more indicated ADHD symptoms. Diagnosis of anxiety was established using an item that elicited from participants a recent diagnosis of anxiety or current medication regimen for anxiety. The criterion variable and predictors in this study were collected using a 3-part questionnaire, including demographics, insomnia screening, and mental health screening.

Survey procedure

The online survey was administered using the Qualtrics (Qualtrics) web-based survey tool. The invitation letter to participate in this survey was sent to participants through the listserve to students and social media outlets (Facebook and Twitter) from March 18 through August 23, 2019.

Data analysis

During the analysis, we omitted responses with half or more missing information (75 incomplete and missing responses were excluded from the final sample) from the criterion variable (insomnia) and predictors (ie, ADHD, anxiety, depression, chronic non–mental health conditions, employment status, sex, race and ethnicity, sex, education level, physical activity status, alcohol and caffeine consumption, and smoking). Descriptive statistics were used to describe the study participants. Cell sizes with fewer than 5 were conflated with the next immediate encompassing category. Significant differences in outcomes among predictive factors were determined by using independent t tests. Differences were labeled significant at an α level less than or equal to .05. Were used χ 2 tests of independence to compare the distribution of dependent categorical or nominal variables and the distribution in the criterion variable (for large cell sizes). Fisher tests were used for the same purpose, albeit for smaller cell sizes (~ n = 5). We did not apply any statistical adjustments (eg, Bonferroni adjustments) for multiple comparisons on the same sample out of concern for the substantial reduction in the statistical power of rejecting an incorrect Ho in each test (16).

Multivariable logistic regression models were built to model a relationship between predictors and insomnia. We included logistic regression models analyzing the interaction between different mental conditions and between physical activity and mental health (diagnosis of anxiety, depression, or ADHD). Model 1 regressed the dependent variable on all independent variables. Models 2 through 4 added 2-way interactions between mental conditions, namely anxiety, ADHD, and depression, respectively, and physical activity. From each of these models, odds ratios were derived. The analysis was conducted by using SPSS version 26 (IBM Corp).

Validity and reliability

To validate the use of the foregoing instruments in a college population, we conducted confirmatory factor analyses. Results indicated loading patterns consistent with the structure of the adopted scales. Our method of choice was principal component analysis with varimax rotation. The ISI was a unidimensional scale with factor loading ranging from 0.375 to 0.876. The unidimensional PHQ-9 factor loadings oscillated between 0.627 and 0.881. The ASRS, also unidimensional, had factor loadings ranging from 0.462 to 0.803. The reliability of the ISI, PHQ-9, and ASRS, as assessed using the Cronbach α (0.857, 0.909, 0.768, respectively), was excellent. The degree of concordance between the ISI and the nonsleep scales (divergent validity) was evaluated by using correlation coefficients. We found a weak to moderate magnitude of correlation ( r < 0.7), based on a widespread threshold from the literature (17).

A total of 330 responses were included in our analysis ( Table 1 ). The mean age of participants was 24.4 years old. Across the entire sample, most participants were women (67.0%), White (89.7%), not married (94.2%), undergraduate students (62.4%), and with no chronic non–mental health conditions (69.7%). Based on the screening questionnaires, the prevalences of anxiety, depression, ADHD, and insomnia were 28.5%, 41.2.%, 15.8%, and 26.4%, respectively.

Among the participants with insomnia, most were women (81.6%), White (83.9%), undergraduate students (65.5%), physically active on 2 or more days during the week (79.3%), consumed less than 6 cups of caffeine per day (88.5%), at least occasionally consumed alcohol (67.8%), were nonsmokers (93.1%), had no chronic conditions (58.6%), were not anxious constantly (63.2%), were depressed (78.2%), and had no symptoms of ADHD (62.1%). In general, participants without insomnia followed the same trend, except that most did not have depression (71.2%). Employment status in both groups (participants with and those without insomnia) was roughly similar. Sex, race, the number of chronic non–mental health conditions, depression, and ADHD symptoms were found to be significant correlates of insomnia ( Table 1 ).

Findings from models 2 and 4 were not significant. In model 3, the multiple logistic regression model indicated that psychosocial factors such as employment status, depression, and ADHD significantly increased the odds of insomnia ( Table 2 ). Employed students had 2.10 times higher odds of insomnia compared with unemployed students. In addition, the odds of insomnia were 9.54 and 3.48 times higher for students with depression and ADHD, respectively. Anxiety was not significantly associated with insomnia (adjusted odds ratio: 1.71, P = .13). Physical activity was a significant effect modifier in the association between ADHD and insomnia (adjusted odds ratio: 12.1, P = 0.012). The strength of the association between ADHD symptoms and insomnia was lower among students who exercised 2 or more days a week compared with those who exercised less.

In this study, we identified factors associated with insomnia among college students. ADHD, depression, and employment status were significantly associated with insomnia. We reported a 26.4% prevalence of insomnia among college students, a finding consistent with existing literature. A previous meta-analysis reported an overall insomnia prevalence of 18.5% (95% CI, 11.2%–28.8%) among university students; our estimate fell within this reported CI (6). Another study found that insomnia prevalence was 26.7% among university nursing students (18). Taylor and coworkers reported an insomnia prevalence of 9.5% among a cohort of 1,039 college students by using the ISI and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) (19); their operational definition of chronic insomnia was established over 3 months as opposed to 1 month in our study. In our work, small cell sizes restricted the categorization of insomnia into moderate, mild, or severe. This explains the deviation of our results from those of past researchers that used the ISI systematic classification of different degrees of insomnia. For instance, Gress-Smith et al found that 47% of college students had mild insomnia and 22.5% had moderate to severe insomnia (20). In another ISI-based study, 12% of students endorsed a diagnosis of clinical insomnia, and 45% met the criteria for subclinical insomnia (21). All these intricacies cement our results within the current pool of research.

Our findings indicated that 78.2% of students with insomnia also experienced depression, and the odds of insomnia were 9.54 times higher among students with depression than students without depression. Olufsen et al reported a prevalence of depression among college students with insomnia of 30% to 38%, using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV) (22). Another research concluded that depressive symptoms, assessed using criteria of the DSM-IV, were associated with increased insomnia complaints among college students (odds ratio, 1.09) (23). These findings lend credence to the bidirectional relationship between insomnia and depression. Thus, it is typical of patients with insomnia to exhibit psychological profiles (poor coping skills, poor health status, ruminative traits) that herald the onset of depression. Ubiquitous characteristics of insomnia, such as fatigue, irritability, and cognitive impairment, which are well-known derivatives of insomnia among students, exacerbate depressive symptoms (24).

In our sample, 15.8% had ADHD, and the odds of insomnia were 3.48 times higher for students with ADHD than those without ADHD. The prevalence of clinically significant cases of ADHD varies between 2% and 8% of the college student population (25). A previous study showed a similar ADHD prevalence to ours at ~19% (26). In the same study, the authors also reported that students with ADHD had a risk of insomnia 2.7 times greater than those without ADHD (26). These observations indicate the importance of examining symptom clusters that involve both sleep and mental and emotional components when investigating and treating insomnia, depression, or ADHD.

Physical activity mitigated the effect of mental health on insomnia. As regular physical activity helps improve sleep quality (7) and has psychological benefits (27), it was not surprising to find that among those with mental conditions, those who exercised more often (in this case, 2 or more days per week) seemed to have better sleep quality than those who exercised less. Students are often hesitant to seek help for mental health and insomnia concerns; therefore, interventions need to be youth-friendly, acceptable, feasible, and nonstigmatizing (28). Young people view physical activity as helpful in mitigating mental conditions as well as being nonstigmatizing (29). Although most university campuses offer physical activity–based wellness programs, research exploring students’ perceptions of on-campus physical activity initiatives as alternatives to mental health and insomnia management strategy is limited (30).

We found that employment was significantly associated with sleep problems among college students. Similarly, previous research has linked employment to insomnia. A meta-analysis found job demand to be negatively correlated with sleep quality, whereas job control was positively correlated (31). Students, most of whom held part-time jobs and thus had less job control yet high job demands, might understandably experience substantial sleep difficulties and reduced sleep quality in general. Also, the competing demands to complete academic requirements and maintain employment may also serve as structural barriers to adequate sleep.

Strengths and limitations

This study had several strengths. First, we evaluated factors susceptible to accompany a diagnosis of insomnia in a sample of college students. Further, we used established instruments that we validated psychometrically across a new population. However, this study had a few limitations. First, the data were collected from 2 universities, namely West Virginia and Marshall University, thus limiting the generalizability of the findings. Information on study majors was not collected, yet could have influenced the prevalence and the uncovered associations of insomnia and mental conditions. Further, we used a cross-sectional design and could only establish association, not causality. Finally, small cell sizes restricted the stratification of insomnia, which would have enriched our results.

Our results indicate that better mental health and insomnia must be addressed concomitantly as their association is not random. Addressing these issues entails better time management skills dedicated to studying, work, and leisure. Such skills should be at the fingertips of college students to help them cope with the increasing demands of university life. These findings should also be communicated to the employers of college students who in turn should prioritize the overall well-being of their employees. As a future direction for our work, we endeavor to measure health services utilization among students with mental conditions that tie directly to sleep quality; this, in a bid, to inform policy on the need to improve mental health services access for college students.

The burden of insomnia among college students is one that must be readily addressed as its spillover effects decrease substantial traits that are crucial for college life. Mental health, specifically depression and ADHD, and employment are salient contributors to the high levels of insomnia. Addressing these associations could help improve the experience and well-being of college students. Further, the promotion on campuses of healthy behaviors such as physical activity could yield significant improvements vis-à-vis the lifestyle of college students, as physical activity, in this study, has been shown to mitigate the effect of mental health on insomnia or vice versa.

The authors would like to thank Jason Kang, MD, MS, for his input during the conception of this study.

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest, and the authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this article are included within the study. No financial support was received for this work. Permission to use the ASRS was obtained from Ronald C. Kessler.

Author contributions: conceptualization, all authors; data curation, Mr Mbous and Dr Nili; formal analysis, Mr Mbous, Dr Nili, and Ms Mohamed; investigation and methodology, all authors; project administration, Mr Mbous and Dr Nili; supervision, Dr Dwibedi; writing the original draft, Mr Mbous; writing review and editing, all authors.

Corresponding Author: Yves Paul Vincent Mbous, MEng, BSc Hons, BSc, School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Systems and Policy, PO Box 9510, Morgantown, WV 26506. Email: [email protected] .

Author Affiliations: 1 School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Systems and Policy, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia.

  • Hirshkowitz M, Whiton K, Albert SM, Alessi C, Bruni O, DonCarlos L, et al. National Sleep Foundation’s sleep time duration recommendations: methodology and results summary. Sleep Health 2015;1(1):40–3. CrossRef PubMed
  • Lund HG, Reider BD, Whiting AB, Prichard JR. Sleep patterns and predictors of disturbed sleep in a large population of college students. J Adolesc Health 2010;46(2):124–32. CrossRef PubMed
  • Sing CY, Wong WS. Prevalence of insomnia and its psychosocial correlates among college students in Hong Kong. J Am Coll Health 2010;59(3):174–82. CrossRef PubMed
  • Buboltz WC Jr, Brown F, Soper B. Sleep habits and patterns of college students: a preliminary study. J Am Coll Health 2001;50(3):131–5. CrossRef PubMed
  • Gomes AA, Tavares J, de Azevedo MHP. Sleep and academic performance in undergraduates: a multi-measure, multi-predictor approach. Chronobiol Int 2011;28(9):786–801. CrossRef PubMed
  • Jiang XL, Zheng XY, Yang J, Ye CP, Chen YY, Zhang ZG, et al. A systematic review of studies on the prevalence of insomnia in university students. Public Health 2015;129(12):1579–84. CrossRef PubMed
  • Hartescu I, Morgan K. Regular physical activity and insomnia: an international perspective. J Sleep Res 2019;28(2):e12745. CrossRef PubMed
  • Zhou A, Hyppönen E. Long-term coffee consumption, caffeine metabolism genetics, and risk of cardiovascular disease: a prospective analysis of up to 347,077 individuals and 8368 cases. Am J Clin Nutr 2019;109(3):509–16. CrossRef PubMed
  • Goodman RA, Posner SF, Huang ES, Parekh AK, Koh HK. Defining and measuring chronic conditions: imperatives for research, policy, program, and practice. Prev Chronic Dis 2013;10:E66. CrossRef PubMed
  • Morin CM, Belleville G, Bélanger L, Ivers H. The Insomnia Severity Index: psychometric indicators to detect insomnia cases and evaluate treatment response. Sleep 2011;34(5):601–8. CrossRef PubMed
  • Gagnon C, Bélanger L, Ivers H, Morin CM. Validation of the Insomnia Severity Index in primary care. J Am Board Fam Med 2013;26(6):701–10. CrossRef PubMed
  • Collins AR, Cheung J, Croarkin PE, Kolla BP, Kung S. Effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation on sleep quality and mood in patients with major depressive disorder. J Clin Sleep Med 2022;18(5):1297–1305. CrossRef PubMed
  • Schulte T, Hofmeister D, Mehnert-Theuerkauf A, Hartung T, Hinz A. Assessment of sleep problems with the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and the sleep item of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) in cancer patients. Support Care Cancer 2021;29(12):7377–84. CrossRef PubMed
  • Manea L, Gilbody S, McMillan D. Optimal cut-off score for diagnosing depression with the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9): a meta-analysis. CMAJ 2012;184(3):E191–6. CrossRef PubMed
  • Daigre Blanco C, Ramos-Quiroga JA, Valero S, Bosch R, Roncero C, Gonzalvo B, et al. Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS-v1.1) symptom checklist in patients with substance use disorders. Actas Esp Psiquiatr 2009;37(6):299–305. PubMed
  • Perneger TV. What’s wrong with Bonferroni adjustments. BMJ 1998;316(7139):1236–8. CrossRef PubMed
  • Abma IL, Rovers M, van der Wees PJ. Appraising convergent validity of patient-reported outcome measures in systematic reviews: constructing hypotheses and interpreting outcomes. BMC Res Notes 2016;9(1):226. CrossRef PubMed
  • Angelone AM, Mattei A, Sbarbati M, Di Orio F. Prevalence and correlates for self-reported sleep problems among nursing students. J Prev Med Hyg 2011;52(4):201–8. PubMed
  • Taylor DJ, Bramoweth AD, Grieser EA, Tatum JI, Roane BM. Epidemiology of insomnia in college students: relationship with mental health, quality of life, and substance use difficulties. Behav Ther 2013;44(3):339–48. CrossRef PubMed
  • Gress-Smith JL, Roubinov DS, Andreotti C, Compas BE, Luecken LJ. Prevalence, severity and risk factors for depressive symptoms and insomnia in college undergraduates. Stress Health 2015;31(1):63–70. CrossRef PubMed
  • Gellis LA, Park A, Stotsky MT, Taylor DJ. Associations between sleep hygiene and insomnia severity in college students: cross-sectional and prospective analyses. Behav Ther 2014;45(6):806–16. CrossRef PubMed
  • Olufsen IS, Sørensen ME, Bjorvatn B. New diagnostic criteria for insomnia and the association between insomnia, anxiety and depression. Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen 2020;140(1). PubMed
  • Fernández-Mendoza J, Vela-Bueno A, Vgontzas AN, Olavarrieta-Bernardino S, Ramos-Platón MJ, Bixler EO, et al. Nighttime sleep and daytime functioning correlates of the insomnia complaint in young adults. J Adolesc 2009;32(5):1059–74. CrossRef PubMed
  • Grandner MA, Malhotra A. Connecting insomnia, sleep apnoea and depression. Respirology 2017;22(7):1249–50. CrossRef PubMed
  • DuPaul GJ, Weyandt LL, O’Dell SM, Varejao M. College students with ADHD: current status and future directions. J Atten Disord 2009;13(3):234–50. CrossRef PubMed
  • Evren B, Evren C, Dalbudak E, Topcu M, Kutlu N. The impact of depression, anxiety, neuroticism, and severity of Internet addiction symptoms on the relationship between probable ADHD and severity of insomnia among young adults. Psychiatry Res 2019;271:726–31. CrossRef PubMed
  • Mourady D, Richa S, Karam R, Papazian T, Hajj Moussa F, El Osta N, et al. Associations between quality of life, physical activity, worry, depression and insomnia: a cross-sectional designed study in healthy pregnant women. PLoS One 2017;12(5):e0178181. CrossRef PubMed
  • Aguirre Velasco A, Cruz ISS, Billings J, Jimenez M, Rowe S. What are the barriers, facilitators and interventions targeting help-seeking behaviours for common mental health problems in adolescents? A systematic review. BMC Psychiatry 2020;20(1):293. CrossRef PubMed
  • Mason OJ, Holt R. Mental health and physical activity interventions: a review of the qualitative literature. J Ment Health 2012;21(3):274–84. CrossRef PubMed
  • deJonge ML, Jain S, Faulkner GE, Sabiston CM. On campus physical activity programming for post-secondary student mental health: examining effectiveness and acceptability. Ment Health Phys Act 2021;20:100391. CrossRef
  • Van Laethem M, Beckers DGJ, Kompier MAJ, Dijksterhuis A, Geurts SAE. Psychosocial work characteristics and sleep quality: a systematic review of longitudinal and intervention research. Scand J Work Environ Health 2013;39(6):535–49. CrossRef PubMed

Abbreviations: ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; NA, not applicable. a Data are number (percentage) unless otherwise specified. Numbers may not add to total because of missing data. b Independent t test. c Pearson χ 2 . d P value between .001 and <.01. e P value between .01 and <.05. f All other races included Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and any other racial group. g Fisher exact test. h P < .001.

a All other races included Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and any other racial group. b P value between .01 and <.05. c P < .001. d P value between .001 and <.01.

The opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors’ affiliated institutions.

Exit Notification / Disclaimer Policy

  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cannot attest to the accuracy of a non-federal website.
  • Linking to a non-federal website does not constitute an endorsement by CDC or any of its employees of the sponsors or the information and products presented on the website.
  • You will be subject to the destination website's privacy policy when you follow the link.
  • CDC is not responsible for Section 508 compliance (accessibility) on other federal or private website.

Essay on Sleep Deprivation and College Students

This paper highlights and discusses the effects of sleep deprivation among college students. The paper adopts an argumentative approach aimed at proving that sleep deprivation is more harmful than beneficial to students. Some of the negative effects of insufficient sleep include poor academic performance, physical dysfunction, and poor cognitive performance.

Sleep Deprivation and College Students

College experience has a significant value in equipping students with a structured environment that promotes them with the ability to effectively develop their knowledge and talents. The experience is accompanied by a cost and a strong commitment from the students. Consequently, some students spend most of their time studying. The outcome has been sleep deprivation among the college students. Those who forego sleep to do their studies view this as the ideal strategy for becoming successful in their academic studies. Moreover, some students do it to fulfill their social expectations especially those who are also working. This paper seeks to show that the negative effects associated with sleep deprivation among college students far outweigh the potential benefits.

Total and partial sleep deprivation among college students results in adverse changes in the cognitive performance of an individual (Patrick et al., 2017). A well-functioning brain controls a number of voluntary and involuntary actions. These actions include perception, mood, and emotion. Research has shown that sleep deprivation affects brain functioning and ends up lowering a student’s attention and his or her working memory. In some cases, sleep deprived students are overly emotional and depressed. It has also been proved that insufficient sleep adversely affects the decision-making process of an individual (Besoro, 2018). Additionally, inadequate sleep can cause irritability, stress, and depression among the affected persons. College students who experience partial sleep deprivation find it hard to give attention to details and are less vigilant. These students are more prone to stress than the ones who get enough sleep.

One of the most devastating effects of inadequate sleep among college students is a decline in their academic performance (Hershner & Chervin, 2014). Total sleep deprivation leads to a decrease in the ability of the students to recognize assumptions and deductions which are required for enhanced academic performance. A person’s memory requires an orderly succession of sleep stages. Unfortunately, this is not achieved by the sleep-deprived college students. Studies have shown that procedural memory of a person is dependent on his or her rapid eye movement and declarative memory (Hershner & Chervin, 2014). The two types of memory dictate a student’s ability to learn. Literature suggests that engaging in all-night study sessions negatively affects the procedural memory and it is a wrong plan for improved student grades and learning.

Sleep deprivation plays a significant role towards physical dysfunction among college students. The importance of physical function is appreciable especially in the student population of who play sports at least once a week. Without enough sleep, bodily functions such as metabolism, protein repair, and bacterial combating cannot take place effectively (Bianchi, 2014). As a result, there is a decrease in the overall production of the energy needed for a healthy lifestyle which includes physical exercises. There is a link between some of the minor common aches and pains that people feel and the amount of sleep that they get. This is most common among college students who often do not get enough sleep at night.

Some college students who prefer sleep deprivation argue that it has its own benefits. They go to sleep late and wake up early for classes or employment before adequate sleep is obtained (Tesoro, n.d.). Most of them argue that sleep deprivation is necessary for them to attain good grades since they use their sleeping time to do their studies and complete their work. To them, work and grades are more important than sleep. These students need to understand that sleep deprivation tends to do more harm than good to their jobs and academic lives (Zeek et al., 2015). To the working students, insufficient sleep contributes to increased heart rate, blood pressure, and sympathetic excitation. Additionally, there has been a growing body of observation evidence suggesting the possibility of a link between insufficient sleep and increased risk of obesity. Losing out on sleep creates a vicious cycle in the student’s body making it more prone to various factors contributing to weight gain.

The society considers student grades as being essential. For them to emerge as the best and maintain competency in the job environment, they feel that the more time they spend on studies, the more they will achieve in future(Khattab, 2015). Such students argue that there is a need to sacrifice sleep to meet societal expectations. The society should understand that lack of sleep weakens the student’s immune system and impairs their behavioral performance. Diseases and illnesses caused by sleep deprivation severely affect a student’s education.

Lack of sufficient sleep among college students contributes to poor academic performance and hampers their cognitive performance. There has been compelling evidence that insufficient sleep results in physical dysfunction among students. Additionally, scholars argue that some body aches and pains occur as a result of sleep deprivation. In some cases, lack of enough sleep leads to increased heart rate and blood pressure. Going by the evidence from various scholars and researchers concerning the adverse effects of sleep deprivation, it would be fair to conclude that sleep deprivation does more harm than good to students.

Besoro, E. (2018).  The perceived effects of lack of sleep on the academic performance .  Academia.edu . Retrieved March 12, 2018 from  http://www.academia.edu/31446912/CHAPTER_1_GROUP_7_REVISED

Bianchi, M. (2014). Sleep deprivation and disease: Effects on the body, brain and behavior (1st Ed.). New York: Springer-Verlag.

Hershner, S., & Chervin, R. (2014). Causes and consequences of sleepiness among college students.  Nature and Science of Sleep , (6), 73–84.

Khattab, N. (2015). Students’ aspirations, expectations and school achievement: what really matters?  British Educational Research Journal ,  41 (5), 731-748.

Patrick, Y., Lee, A., Raha, O., Pillai, K., Gupta, S., & Sethi, S. et al. (2017). Effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive and physical performance in university students.  Sleep and Biological Rhythms ,  15 (3), 217-225.

Tesoro, A. (n.d.).  The effects of sleep deprivation on academic performance .  Web.csulb.edu . Retrieved March 11, 2018 from  http://web.csulb.edu/~atesoro/effects_of_sleep.pdf

Zeek, M., Savoie, M., Song, M., Kennemur, L., Qian, J., Jungnickel, P., & Westrick, S. (2015). Sleep duration and academic performance among student pharmacists.  American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education ,  79 (5), 63.

Cite this page

Similar essay samples.

  • Essay on Newspaper Article Analysis
  • Case Study: Starbucks
  • MANAGEMENT OF PROJECTS – an analysis of project management
  • Essay on Difference Between Knight Faith and Infinitive Resignation
  • Article Review and Stock Buyback
  • Essay on Conflicts of Interest

U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

  • Publications
  • Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

  • Advanced Search
  • Journal List
  • v.11(4); Jul-Aug 2018

Logo of ssci

Quality of Sleep and Depression in College Students: A Systematic Review

João dinis.

1 Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Department of Clinical Neurosciences and Mental Health - Porto - Porto - Portugal.

Miguel Bragança

Background:.

Nowadays, sleep-related problems are a prevalent occurrence among university students. Poor sleep quality is one of the most studied aspects of sleep complaints, affecting from 10% to 50% of this population. Poor sleep quality consequences are many and have a profound impact in the student's psychobiological health. University students live through a period of psychological challenge and adaptation, since the transition from high school to professional life. Abrupt autonomy challenges students to deal with many choices, from their academic and social life to their intimate habits. Frequently, sleep hygiene is neglected, or they are unable to use proper coping mechanisms, resulting in disturbing consequences that could impact their lives as adults. Research has found a significant association between sleep quality and depression or depressive symptoms, but this relationship is still somewhat difficult to interpret.

The objective of this review is to appraise the current knowledge around the relationship of sleep with depression in this group of young adults. Data Source: Articles included in Medline database.

After a careful search, the articles selected aimed mainly college students. The studies had sleep quality and depression objectively assessed, focused in the relationship between both, and addressed possible influencing factors.

The current literature still supports a bidirectional relationship between sleep and depression, however, the importance of sleep quality is becoming a very relevant variable.

Conclusion:

Education and the application of policies regarding sleep hygiene may prevent, in some cases, the development of depression and improve the quality of sleep in other cases. Future research should clarify the relationship between sleep problems and depression in a way they could be prevented or, at least, minimalized with effective and achievable interventions.

INTRODUCTION

When young adults go through university, they experience a period of psychological challenge and adaptation, since the transition from high school to professional life. The sudden autonomy challenges students with varying choices, from their academic and social life to their intimate habits. Frequently, some important dimensions of their lives are sacrificed, being sleep hygiene often neglected, and in the presence of frustration or life changes, they are unable to use proper coping mechanisms, resulting in problematic consequences that could impact their lives through academic life and as adults.

The occurrence of poor mental health among university students varies, but nonetheless the rates of depressive symptoms can go as high as 50% in some countries 1 . Along with this situation, the deterioration of good sleep habits may be contributing to the poor mental health seen in this population. Sleep quality, a measurement that is related to sleep hygiene, has been shown to be poor in this population in different countries, affecting in some cases around 50% of the students 1 - 3 . An accumulation of research shows that the relationship between disturbed sleep and depression is complex and bidirectional. As this relation is better understood, a dedicated intervention both on sleep quality and depression could prevent the emerging problem in the affected student populations, as well as serving as prevention in the post-graduated young adults.

The aim of this systematic review is therefore to appraise the current available literature that specifically probes this relation, focusing mainly which of the variables of depression, depression symptoms or poor sleep quality may contribute more to the problem. Additionally, this review also aims to appreciate some of the factors that can potentially interfere in this relation. Also understand how do sleep quality and depression impact this population, which instruments are being used to address this subject, what is the current situation in the understanding of the relationship of sleep quality and depression, and how this subject has been studied.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

This review methodological approach has been based in PRISMA's guidelines, available at “prisma-statement.org/”. Pubmed was queried for all references from 1970 through July 22, 2017 for studies related to depression associated to sleep in college students or young adults. The search terms were the following: ((Sleep[MeSH Terms]) AND depression[MeSH Terms]) AND adults, young[MeSH Terms]), with 318 results; ((Sleep[MeSH Terms]) AND depression[MeSH Terms]) AND students[MeSH Terms] with 40 results; ((“sleep”[MeSH Terms]) AND depression[MeSH Terms]) AND students) with 75 results; ((Sleep[Title/Abstract]) AND Depression[Title/Abstract]) AND Students[Title/Abstract]) with 272 results; In a first phase selection, repeated articles were sorted out, and the remaining articles were selected by title, having as inclusion criteria the combination of the terms “sleep”, “sleep quality”, “depression”, “depressive symptoms”, “college”, “students”, “young adults”, “university”, ”population”.

In a second phase, the selected articles were individually read and submitted to the following criteria: 1) any type of article, excluding reviews, meta-analyses and editorial notes; 2) population attending college or young adults not attending to college or any specific education institution; 3) clear methodology and generally accepted data collection instruments, related to assess depression, depressive symptoms, sleep and sleep quality, coherent with the intervention; 4) the outcome would be associated with sleep, sleep quality, depression and depressive symptoms; 5) exclusion of any article in which the outcome would relate intentionally to insomnia or other sleep disturbances, other than affecting sleep quality.

The data retrieved from each article included the study type, the country, the population context, the methodology, the reported limitations, the outcomes regarding the instrument used. Also, data was retrieved concerning other factors the authors consider having influence in the main outcomes in each study.

From the initial search, 705 articles were selected. After the first phase selection, 66 were selected, which followed to be selected in the second phase selection, resulting in 32 articles which were included in the review ( Figure 1 ).

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is ssci-11-04-0290-g01.jpg

Flowchart of included articles.

From all articles, 13 were from North America (11 - USA; 1 Canada; 1 Mexico), 10 were from Asia (5- Japan; 3 China; 1 Thailand; 1 Nepal), 2 from Oceania (2- Australia), 2 from Europe (1- Austria; 1- Poland), 2 from Middle East (1- Turkey; 1- Lebanon), 2 from Africa (1- Nigeria; 1- Ethiopia) and 1 study regarding various geographic proveniences.

The study types included 22 cross-sectional studies, 7 longitudinal studies, 1 experimental study, 1 pilot study and 1 quasi-experimental study.

A great portion of the studies included a general college student population (26), although some were specific college schools (Medicine - 2; Nursery - 1; Arts - 1) and two studies included both college students and young adults.

Methodology applied

Regarding sleep and sleep quality the most used instrument used was the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Score (PSQI), as one article used the PSQI associated with actigraphy. Regarding depression or depressive symptoms, the most used instrument was the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), 13 articles and the other articles used a variety of other scales. Table 1 summarizes the methodology applied.

Methodology Applied in the articles for collection of data regarding sleep, sleep quality, depression and depressive symptoms. Nº. S - Number of studies using the instrument; DS - Depressive symptoms; TMINLHI - Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Neuroscience Life Habits Inventory; ASQSD - Auckland Sleep Questionnaire and Sleep Diaries; CES-D - Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale; DASS-21 - Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale; BDI-II - Beck Depression Inventory; HADS - Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; PHQ-9 - Patient Health Questionnaire; MMPI-2 - Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory; SDS - Self-Rating Depression Score; WHO-5 - WHO-Five Well-being Index; * Three articles used a combination of scales, CES-D with DASS 21 or the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale

The results in this systematic review reinforce the notion that there is a strong association between sleep quality, or sleep hygiene, and depression or depressive symptoms ( Table 2 ). The literature is not consensual of the direction of association, and some authors hypothesize there is a bidirectional association between sleep and depression 4 - 7 . In terms of cross-sectional studies, there is a greater number of those which support that poor sleep quality predicts depression or depressive symptoms. The other longitudinal studies pointed to a greater risk of depression, or greater presence of depressive symptoms when sleep problems were present 4 , 5 , 8 - 10 . A quasi-experimental study comparing two different types of interventions for improving sleep quality showed reduction in depressive symptoms in both interventions 11 . One experimental study established a model in which poor sleep quality was associated with greater difficulty disengaging attention from negative stimuli, which in turn predicted upsurges in depressive symptoms 12 . There is also evidence that poor sleep quality is associated with greater struggle disengaging attention from negative stimuli, which will increase depressive symptoms 12 .

SHQ Sleeps Habits Questionnaire; BDI-II Beck Depression Inventory; OR Odds Ration; SD Standard Deviation; PSQI Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Score; CES-D Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale ; HAM-D3 Hamilton Depression Rating Scale; WHO-5 Self-Rating Depression Scale and the WHO-Five Well-being Index; TMIN-LHI Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Neuroscience life habits inventory; SDS Self-Rating Depression Score; SF-36 Social Functioning 36; MMPI-2 Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory; DASS-21 Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS21); PHQ-9 Patient Health Questionnaire; HADS Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.

In the perspective of depression, students who are depressed are less likely to use adaptive coping strategies, therefore may experience diminished sleep quality or greater sleep start time variability 10 , 19 . There is also evidence that as depression increases in severity, the odds ratio or risk of poor sleep quality also increase 1 , 15 . Episodic and chronic depression are both linked to sleep quality. Despite episodic depressive symptoms being significant predictors of sleep complications, chronic depressive symptoms are particularly greater predictors 4 . Interestingly one of the longitudinal studies, which studied the transition from high-school to college, found that pre-transition depressive symptoms were associated with subsequent post-transition subjective and objective sleep problems, but not the reverse. However post-transition depressive symptoms were concurrently associated with greater sleep problems 8 . In an interesting opposite view, in the point of view from optimism, one longitudinal study found that optimism is a predictor of sleep quality 31 .

Regarding the studies' overall results, it's plausible to affirm that in the presence of a bidirectional relationship, self-reported sleep quality is being shown to be more consistent as a predictor of depression or depressive symptoms, despite depression itself also constitutes a predictor of sleep quality.

Factors influencing sleep quality and depression

Females have been found to have higher risk of poor sleep quality, which may be associated by the gender-based differences in the biology of sleep 26 or contact to socio-economic pressures and cultural norms, reaction, and coping mechanisms to life stresses, in addition to biological factors 27 . Interestingly one study revealed that poor sleep quality is related to depressive symptoms in males, but stress in females 19 . Existing studies do not deliver information on whether gender difference remains significant after concurrently considering the impact of other socio-demographic, lifestyle factors, and affective disorders. The gender difference in sleep problems is mostly attributed to the physiologic differences, the importance of affective disorders and socioeconomic inequalities, indicating these may be the pathway variables through which gender disparity in poor sleep is displayed 26 .

Genetic Factors

A longitudinal study found that individuals carrying 2 alleles with the low-polymorphism of the serotonin transporter gene 5-HTTLPR reported more depressive mood in the presence of a persistent pattern of short nocturnal sleep. Thus, exposure to chronic levels of insufficient or disrupted sleep may manifest a preexisting vulnerability in genetically susceptible individuals 5 . Other longitudinal study found that the number of G alleles in rs11932595, from the CLOCK gene, is positively associated with self-reported sleep quality, suggesting that polymorphisms within this gene may be considered a factor 12 .

Year of study and College

Some authors found that increasing year of study in university or college predicted good sleep quality. It indicates that students in later years may have developed better coping strategies for their academic life 1 , 21 , 29 . There is also evidence that poor sleep quality and depression is common among medical students 32 . Thus the demands over specific students in different schools may also contribute to influence the first.

Use of technology

With the recent technological advancement, a new factor may have appeared as a potential influencer in the relationship between sleep and depression. This is evident when studies prior to the technological boom of electronic devices didn't account this variable 33 , 34 . Some authors found that waking up to answer one's phone predicted lower sleep quality, which in turn predicted depression 18 . In another study, depression acted as a mediator between smartphone overuse and poor sleep quality. The mechanisms behind this phenomenon may be due to probably affecting sleep architecture, alteration of melatonin release by influence of bright light, displacement of sleep, influence of electromagnetic fields emitted from the devices on brain activity, physical discomfort during its usage or because of cognitive, emotional or physiological arousal 22 .

As individuals may be classified as either morning-types, intermediate types or evening-types, some studies report that circadian preferences may have an important role in the connection between sleep and depression 10 , 31 , 32 . The literature reveals mixed results concerning this factor. Several studies settle that an evening chronotype is linked to poor sleep quality among young adults and college students 32 . Some authors support that the prevalence of depressive symptoms was significantly higher among students with a late bedtime and prolonged sleep-onset latency 20 , 29 . One longitudinal study suggests that morning-type chronotype has a protective effect against the potential harm of poor sleep on optimism, yet not against the damage of pessimism on sleep quality 31 . However, one study found that 40% of evening-types were classified as having good sleep characteristics and did not generally differ on the sleep characteristics relative to most of morning-types, who reported good sleep. The authors propose that perceived morningness-eveningness may not account to influence sleep quality 10 .

Regarding weekend, one study suggests that students tend to maintain similar sleep wake patterns across the week and weekend 10 . However, other study reported that students sleep significantly longer in weekends, mainly females 27 .

Sleep Quantity

The mechanisms underlying the association between bedtime and depression remain unknown as some authors haven't found a consistent relation between sleep duration and depression 29 . However, some authors support that short sleep duration is associated with increased depressive symptoms in a U-shaped relationship20. Despite these contradictory results, some authors found that there are significant improvements in several sleep patterns across the transition from high-school to college: increases in sleep efficiency, sleep minutes, and subjective sleep quality after this transition 23 .

Studies Limitations

Regarding the cross-sectional studies, the studies were limited mainly by their nature. In this case, causality is impossible to be established 7 . As the questionnaires used were mostly self-reported, being a subjective measure, recall bias must be accounted. Confirmation of these results using objective measurements, such as actigraphy monitoring throughout the day, would be desirable 8 , 20 .

In the case of longitudinal studies which used actigraphy, sample size is one of the most significant limitations. The validity of the usage of this instrument is yet to be determined 12 .

The students who were able to participate in these studies were expected to maintain a healthy lifestyle and relatively good mental health. Consequently, the students who could not participate in the studies might be likely to have more severe problem and become socially withdrawn with problems such as sickness and absenteeism in the future. Such high-risk students should have been included in the studies 20 .

Other compensatory sleep habits haven't been accounted for, such as napping or nodding in the classroom 20 . Also, the weekend period was only considered in two of the studies 10 , 27 , which may have an important role in the characteristics in the subject's sleep phase 21 .

The presence of mental health problems and poor sleep quality was assessed by standardized clinical questionnaires. However, these measures are not equivalent to clinical diagnoses 35 , and these instruments have their own limitations. For example, PSQI may underestimate the outcomes of sleep quality 26 and both CES-D and DASS-21 instruments measure short- term depressive mood, therefore the outcome may not reproduce long-term associations that would result in clinical depression 6 .

LIMITATIONS

This systematic review has its own limitations. First, it only used one search engine and only searched for studies written in English. It is possible that a great quantity of relevant articles has been missed out and its results could bring a different perspective. Second, the focus on depression and sleep is not totally realistic, since depression and sleep quality are influenced by many other variants such as stress, anxiety or physical health, which in term may have an important role in their relationship 16 , 35 - 37 . This indicates that the relationship between sleep and depression is a complex phenomenon and its approach by simplifying the variables may not represent the reality of the problem. Third, this review focused in a very specific population with habits and pressures that may not be seen in the general population, thus the variables may be influenced by other mechanisms not applied to college students. For example, university students have later sleep and wake times, higher rates of daytime sleepiness, and physical and mental health complaints, than the general population 37 . Fourth, the impact of socioeconomic and cultural factors was not deeply explored in this review as it includes studies from developed and under development countries.

It is becoming consistent that self-reported low sleep quality is a predictor of depression or depressive symptoms, at least regarding the young adults that attend universities and colleges. However, it is important to acknowledge that sleep disturbances and depression have a bidirectional association, so depression also influences sleep, as a recent meta-analysis on older adults found 38 . Defended by many of the authors, and demonstrated by an experimental study, an intervention in sleep hygiene can have benefic effects on reducing depression among the students. The institutions should recognize the importance of sleep hygiene and educate its population of its consequences, having in consideration that this population is probably unaware of this problem and it's late night culture.

As the understanding of the complexity of sleep is becoming clearer, also pragmatic interventions should result from its study. In this direction, some research has already been conducted, demonstrating that cognitive behavioral self-help programs can improve sleep and depressive symptoms 11 . The research on this field still has its challenges concerning the measurements. However, with the uprising in the miniaturization of technology, the actigraphy may become cheaper and easy to use and so giving the possibility of a profound study, among others, of the sleep habits in the human populations.

Finally, there is a lack of evidence in how the different grades of depression affect sleep quality and vice versa. This could possibly demonstrate if sleep affects the progression of depression's severity, if there is a correlation between the worsening of the quality of sleep and depression stage, or how different types of depression relate to sleep.

None of the authors had any direct or indirect funding in support of this study.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

Sleep Deprivation among College Students Essay Example

Sleep Deprivation among College Students Essay Example

  • Pages: 6 (1594 words)
  • Published: December 30, 2021

Sleep is a very important element of the human life; sleep is what helps to replenish energy in the body after a hard day’s job. Sleep is referred to be the process through which the body revitalizes itself, this process is important because it helps all the body systems to rest and relax after a hard day’s job. Sleep helps the human body to relax and this helps with the overall health of the central nervous system. Sleep helps people think more clearly and it strengthens the memory system leading to better performance throughout the day. Research indicates that a normal adult should have at least six to ten hours of sleep per day and this can vary depending on individuals.

Many people in America in the contemporary system are sleeping less as they struggle to work day and nigh

t to meet their daily needs (Kenney et al. 2014). This problem is also prevalent among the college students who are spending less time sleeping due to the many activities that they are involved in at the institution. Attendance of college is often referred as the transition from childhood to adult hood by the society; people who are in college are expected to be responsible for their lives and their future. There are very many activities that are found in colleges including studies, homework, hobbies and leisure among many other activities that the students love or are expected to engage in (Ashrafioun et al. 2016). The transition from high school to college is one of the biggest problems that leads to stress and lack of sleep among the new students as they struggle to manage the many

activities that they were not used to in high school. Because of these many activities, the students put very little priority to sleep and it is estimated that many college students only spend about three to four hours sleeping (Vargas et al. 2014).

There are many causes of the sleep deprivation among college students and some of them include; alcohol abuse and constant use of substances such as nicotine and caffeine can often make one feel tired and drowsy but they often interrupt and interfere with the quality of sleep. Many of the students who have problem sleeping take up more alcohol with the hope of triggering sleep and this can eventually become addictive and problematic (Kenney et al. 2014). The other major cause of sleep deprivation is the poor management of time where the students waste too much time during the day doing nothing and they have to do their assignments at night when they should be sleeping. Other students overwork themselves taking too many classes than they can handle causing them stress that in turn leads to sleeping difficulties (Vargas et al. 2014). Poor sleeping habits adopted by the students are also a major cause of sleeping difficulties among the students. Many of the students have a tendency of over sleeping up until noon and this ends up affecting their sleep patterns and they end up sleeping when they are required to be in class learning (Concepcion et al. 2014).

Sleep deprivation can basically be defined as an ailment just like any other and it comes with some symptoms and effects that can be noted in the students that have some difficulty sleeping. One of

the effect is extreme fatigue that comes with frequent mood swings; lack of enough sleep by the students affects their brains’ homeostasis process and they always appear tired at all times. Students who have sleeping difficulties tend to be always unhappy and they are very short tempered and this affects their social lives (Choueiry et al. 2016). Students who experience sleeping difficulties also tend to be very forgetful and they barely keep things together in their life. These students are always making mistakes because their brains are always tired, they take too long to think and so they reaction time to mistakes are very slow (Kenney et al. 2014). This is effect is very dangerous especially as they drive, these effect can lead to drowsy driving by the students that can cause accidents on the roads. (Choueiry et al. 2016) indicates that many of the student deaths that happen in the colleges are always as a result of road accidents and most of the accidents happen because of drowsy driving by the students who are sleep deprived combined with alcoholism that affects their judgement (Ashrafioun et al. 2016). Road accidents caused by drowsy driving are mostly common at the end of the semesters where the students are done with their exams. They tend to spend most of their time drinking and celebrating without getting any sleep, and later take on their cars to drive home for the holidays (Kenney et al. 2014).

Academic performance among students who have trouble sleeping is poor and it continues to deteriorate as the problem persists. The students who have sleeping problems as earlier indicated tend to be always very forgetful,

these students are likely to forget to attend their respective classes and do their assignments (Concepcion et al. 2014). The same forgetfulness is also likely to affect the knowledge that is acquired by the students in class because they will have a hard time remembering what they learn. The fatigue that is associated with the sleep deprivation is also likely to affect the concentration of the student in class, these students tend to have a difficult time understanding the concepts that are taught in class and they can barely get time to study on their own (Choueiry et al. 2016). Most of these students who struggle to sleep effectively at night are likely to spend most of their time during the day sleeping and this affects their class attendance. There are also some pains that can be experienced by students who are suffering from sleep deprivation such as headaches, general body ache and also some increased heart rate variability that is an essential risk of heart diseases (Vargas et al. 2014).

Ashrafioun et al. (2016) indicates that sleep and depression are interrelated; many cases of depression that are reported yearly are among the college students who all indicate that they have had problems sleeping and they also experienced hallucinations as an effect. The combination of all the effects that sleep deprivation has on student is likely to lead one to become depressed. These are students who have poor relations with the other people around them because of their bad mood swings and so they have no one to talk with (Kenney et al. 2014). These are also people whose sleep deprivation issue has affected their school

work and so they are likely to always be in trouble with their professors and also their parents. All these conflicts combined are likely to make this college student to feel unloved and unimportant in the society, he or she may feel like the world is against them something that could result in him or her committing suicide. Research done by Concepcion et al. (2014) indicates that there is a close relationship between sleep and suicide among college students and it is estimated that everyone out five suicides is a result sleeping problems. Many of the people who end up committing suicide in the society are people who have some depression issues and this is the same case with the students. The accumulated stress and fatigue that comes with sleep deprivation is likely to make them depressed and if this is not resolved through therapy it will essentially lead to suicidal thoughts by the student (Vargas et al. 2014).

The issue of sleep deprivation among college students is something that should the higher education institutions need to look into to ensure safety of the students. Higher education is an important factor that the society rely on to determine the future an individual, the highest population of the people living the good life in the society have at one time attended college. The issue of sleep deprivation among the college students affects their mental capacity and this in the overall end up affecting the students’ academic performance. When the education of the college students deteriorates it affects the economic status of the state because there are number of professionals let out in the society are few. The

government and the society at large should work together to ensure that students are well educated about the importance of sleep. This can be done by conducting frequent seminars within these institutions educating the students on proper sleeping patterns and importance of proper time management. Students need to understand that sleep is important for the body to operate effectively and that rational thinking cannot happen when one does not get enough sleep.

  • Ashrafioun, L., Bonar, E., & Conner, K. R. (2016). Health attitudes and suicidal ideation among university students. Journal Of American College Health, 64(3), 256-260.
  • Choueiry, N., Salamoun, T., Jabbour, H., El Osta, N., Hajj, A., & Rabbaa Khabbaz, L. (2016). Insomnia and Relationship with Anxiety in University Students: A Cross-Sectional Designed Study. Plos ONE, 11(2), 1-11. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0149643
  • Concepcion, T., Barbosa, C., Vélez, J. C., Pepper, M., Andrade, A., Gelaye, B., & ... Williams, M. A. (2014). Daytime Sleepiness, Poor Sleep Quality, Eveningness Chronotype, and Common Mental Disorders Among Chilean College Students. Journal Of American College Health, 62(7), 441-448.
  • Kenney, S. R., Paves, A. P., Grimaldi, E. M., & LaBrie, J. W. (2014). Sleep Quality and Alcohol Risk in College Students: Examining the Moderating Effects of Drinking Motives. Journal Of American College Health, 62(5), 301-308.
  • Vargas, P. A., Flores, M., & Robles, E. (2014). Sleep Quality and Body Mass Index in College Students: The Role of Sleep Disturbances. Journal Of American College Health, 62(8), 534-541.
  • Insomnia in College Students Essay Example
  • Examining Fatigue Factors in Accident Investigations Essay Example
  • Humans and Sleep Essay Example
  • Reaction Paper Essay Example
  • Potential Suicide Victims Essay Example
  • Television and Childhood Obesity Essay Example
  • Sleep Deprevasion Essay Example
  • Job for a Woman Essay Example
  • Newest Edition of a Successful Curriculum Model Essay Example
  • Effects of Sleep Deprivation on the Brain Essay Example
  • The Choice of Future Profession Should Be Based on Hobbies and Not Just Profit Essay Example
  • The Imperial Based College Essay Example
  • Problems in College and Their Solutions Essay Example
  • Child Care at Vernon College Essay Example
  • Effects of Teacher’s Tenure on Students Success at MiraCosta College Essay Example
  • College Education essays
  • College Goals essays
  • College Tuition essays
  • Graduation essays
  • Online Classes Vs Traditional Classes essays
  • Online Education essays
  • Paying College Athletes essays
  • Personal Statement essays
  • Professor essays
  • Reasons To Go To College essays
  • Should college athletes be paid essays
  • Should College be Free essays
  • Student Loan essays
  • Study Abroad Scholarship essays
  • Technology In The Classroom essays
  • Alzheimer's Disease essays
  • autism essays
  • Epilepsy essays
  • Sleep essays
  • Sleep Deprivation essays
  • Traumatic Brain Injury essays

Haven't found what you were looking for?

Search for samples, answers to your questions and flashcards.

  • Enter your topic/question
  • Receive an explanation
  • Ask one question at a time
  • Enter a specific assignment topic
  • Aim at least 500 characters
  • a topic sentence that states the main or controlling idea
  • supporting sentences to explain and develop the point you’re making
  • evidence from your reading or an example from the subject area that supports your point
  • analysis of the implication/significance/impact of the evidence finished off with a critical conclusion you have drawn from the evidence.

Unfortunately copying the content is not possible

Tell us your email address and we’ll send this sample there..

By continuing, you agree to our Terms and Conditions .

89 Sleep Deprivation Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best sleep deprivation topic ideas & essay examples, 📌 simple & easy sleep deprivation essay titles, 👍 good essay topics on sleep deprivation, ❓ sleep deprivation research questions.

  • Problem of Sleep Deprivation This is due to disruption of the sleep cycle. Based on the negative effects of sleep deprivation, there is need to manage this disorder among Americans.
  • The Influence of Sleep Deprivation on Human Body It contradicts living in harmony with God, as when the person is irritated and moody, it is more difficult to be virtuous and to be a source of joy for others. We will write a custom essay specifically for you by our professional experts 808 writers online Learn More
  • Effects of Sleep Deprivation While scientists are at a loss explaining the varying sleeping habits of different animals, they do concede that sleep is crucial and a sleeping disorder may be detrimental to the health and productivity of a […]
  • How Sleep Deprivation Affects College Students’ Academic Performance The study seeks to confirm the position of the hypothesis that sleep deprivation leads to poor academic performance in college students.
  • The Issue of Chronic Sleep Deprivation The quality of sleep significantly impacts the health and performance of the human body. These findings point to significant promise for the use of exercise in the treatment of sleep disorders, but a broader body […]
  • Sleep Deprivation and Insomnia: Study Sources The topic of this audio record is a variety of problems with sleep and their impact on an organism. They proved the aforementioned conclusion and also paid attention to the impact of sleep deprivation on […]
  • Neurocognitive Consequences of Sleep Deprivation The CNS consists of the brain and the spinal cord while the PNS consists of all the endings of the nerve extensions in all organs forming the web that extends throughout the entire organ.
  • “Childbirth Fear and Sleep Deprivation in Pregnant Women” by Hall To further show that the information used is current, the authors have used the APA style of referencing which demand the naming of the author as well as the year of publication of the article/book […]
  • Sleep Deprivation and Learning at University It is a widely known fact that numerous people face the problem of lack of sleep. Second, sleeping is essential for increasing the productivity of students in the context of learning.
  • Sleep Deprivation: Biopsychology and Health Psychology Another theory that has been proposed in relation to sleep is the Circadian theory which suggests that sleep evolved as a mechanism to fit organisms into the light dark cycle of the world.
  • Sleep Disorders: Sleep Deprivation of the Public Safety Officers The effects of sleep disorders and fatigue on public safety officers is a social issue that needs to be addressed with more vigor and urgency so that the key issues and factors that are salient […]
  • Sleep Deprivation: Personal Experiment As I had been perplexed, I did not take a step of reporting the matter to the police neither did I inform my neighbors.
  • Sleep Deprivation: Research Methods The purpose of the research will be to determine sleep deprivation, what causes it, the effect, and why sleep is important.
  • Sleep Deprivation and Specific Emotions The purpose of this study is to develop an understanding of the relationship between sleep deprivation and emotional behaviors. The study looks to create a link between the findings of past researches on the emotional […]
  • Sleep Deprivation Impacts on College Students Additional research in this field should involve the use of diverse categories of students to determine the effects that sleep deprivation would have on them.
  • What Are The Effects Of Sleep Deprivation For Paramedics
  • The Innate Immune System During Sleep Deprivation
  • Sleep Deprivation Negatively Influences Driving Performance
  • What Effect Does Sleep Deprivation Have on Physiological and Cognition
  • Sleep Deprivation And Its Effects On The Lives And Culture Of Different
  • The Correlation Between Sleep Deprivation And Academic Performance
  • The Importance of Sleep and the Health Impact of Sleep Deprivation in Humans
  • Effects of Sleep Deprivation on the Academic Performance of DLSL Account
  • The Effects Of Sleep Deprivation Among College Students
  • The Dangers and Effects of Sleep Deprivation Among Nurses and the Ways to Prevent the Sleep-Related Problem
  • Sleep Deprivation and its Affects on Daily Performances
  • The Body Of Knowledge Regarding Adolescent Sleep Deprivation
  • Poor Performance in School/Work as a Consequence of Sleep Deprivation
  • The Fascinating World of Sleep and the Effects of Sleep Deprivation
  • Symptoms And Treatment Of Sleep Deprivation
  • Sleep Deprivation And Aggression Among College Students
  • The Effects Of Sleep Deprivation On Academic Performance
  • Sleep Deprivation On Eating And Activity Behaviors
  • Sleep Deprivation: What Causes The Sleeplessness And How Long It Lasts
  • The Relationship Between Sleep Deprivation And The Human Body
  • Students And Chronic Sleep Deprivation: How School Start Times Can Impact This
  • What is Sleep and the Effects of Sleep Deprivation
  • Several Health and Behavioral Symptoms of Sleep Deprivation
  • Sleep Deprivation, Nightmares, And Sleepwalking
  • The Factors That Contribute to Sleep Deprivation and Its Effects on the Sleep Cycle
  • The Dangers Of Teen Sleep Deprivation: Benefits Of Adopting Later Start Times For High Schools
  • The Issue of Sleep Deprivation, Its Results and Associated Risks
  • The Negative Effects of Sleep Deprivation in Human Beings
  • The Stages of Sleep and the Effects of Sleep Deprivation
  • The Negative Effects of Sleep Deprivation to Mental and Physical Health
  • Effects Of Sleep Deprivation On One’s Performance And Function
  • How Sleep Deprivation Can Effect Weightlifting Performance
  • The Causes of Sleep Deprivation in America: a Nation of Walking Zombies
  • The Sleep Deprivation Epidemic Is Affecting Teenagers
  • Sleep Matters: The Human Condition in the Midst of Sleep Deprivation
  • Sleep Deprivation : The Brain Function And Physical Body
  • Sleep Deprivation And Reduction, Sleep Disorders, And The Drugs Used To Treat Them
  • The Effects of Total Sleep Deprivation on Bayesian Updating
  • The Negative Effects of Sleep Deprivation Among Teens and the Solutions to the Problem
  • Light Pollution, Sleep Deprivation, and Infant Health at Birth
  • The Effects Of Food And Sleep Deprivation During Civilian
  • The Study of Rechtschaffen (1983) on Sleep Deprivation
  • How Sleep Deprivation Affects Psychological Variables Related to College Students Cognitive Performance
  • Sleep Deprivation : Sleep And The Adverse Effects Of Sleep Disorders
  • How Does Sleep Deprivation Affect Psychological Health?
  • What Effect Does Sleep Deprivation Have on Physiology and Cognition?
  • How Does Lack of Sleep Affect Physical Health?
  • Does Sleep Deprivation Significantly Interfere With Driving?
  • How Does Sleep Deprivation Affect Psychological Variables Related to College Students’ Cognitive Performance?
  • Are the Brains’ Motor Function Affected by Sleep Deprivation?
  • How Does Sleep Deprivation Affect Work Performance?
  • Does Sleep Deprivation Effect College Students’ Academic Performance?
  • How Does Sleep Deprivation Affect Cognitive Functions?
  • Does Too Much Homework Cause Sleep Deprivation?
  • How Can Sleep Deprivation Effect Weightlifting Performance?
  • What Are the Effects of Sleep Deprivation for Paramedics?
  • How Does Sleep Deprivation Lead to Cardiovascular Disease?
  • What Are the Symptoms of Sleep Deprivation?
  • How Does Sleep Deprivation Affect Health?
  • Can Sleep Problems in Patients With Parkinson’s Disease Be About Serotonin?
  • How Common Are Sleep Problems in Teenagers?
  • What Are the Criteria to Classify Mild, Moderate, and Severe Sleep Deprivation in Humans?
  • How to Measure Sleep and Insomnia in Adult Video Gamers?
  • What Are the Physiological and Psychological Effects on Sleep of Electronics in the Bedroom?
  • Is Bipolar Disease a Sleep Regulation Disorder?
  • What Is the Scale on Sleep Deprivation?
  • How Does Lack Sleep Affect Physical Health?
  • Does Sleep Deprivation Induce by Reward Rather Than Punishment Result in Different Effects?
  • How Does Lack of Sleep Affect the Ability to Concentrate, Think and Learn?
  • What Are the Main Types of Sleep Disorders?
  • Can a Person either Become Sick or Die After Complete Sleep Deprivation?
  • What Are Problems Can Sleep Deprivation Lead To?
  • Does Sleep Deprivation Cause Permanent Brain Damage?
  • How Long Does It Take to Reverse Sleep Deprivation?
  • Chicago (A-D)
  • Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2024, February 29). 89 Sleep Deprivation Essay Topic Ideas & Examples. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/sleep-deprivation-essay-topics/

"89 Sleep Deprivation Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." IvyPanda , 29 Feb. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/topic/sleep-deprivation-essay-topics/.

IvyPanda . (2024) '89 Sleep Deprivation Essay Topic Ideas & Examples'. 29 February.

IvyPanda . 2024. "89 Sleep Deprivation Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." February 29, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/sleep-deprivation-essay-topics/.

1. IvyPanda . "89 Sleep Deprivation Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." February 29, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/sleep-deprivation-essay-topics/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "89 Sleep Deprivation Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." February 29, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/sleep-deprivation-essay-topics/.

  • Sleep Research Topics
  • Insomnia Questions
  • Dreaming Essay Titles
  • Sleep Disorders Research Topics
  • Postpartum Depression Paper Topics
  • Caffeine Paper Topics
  • Mental Disorder Essay Topics
  • Disability Essay Topics
  • Bipolar Disorder Research Ideas
  • Disease Questions
  • Disorders Ideas
  • Biomedicine Essay Topics
  • Chronic Pain Research Ideas
  • Hyperactivity Disorder Research Ideas
  • Dementia Research Ideas

IMAGES

  1. ≫ Sleep Deprivation and Importance of Sleep Free Essay Sample on

    sleep deprivation in college students essay

  2. (DOC) Thesis Effects of Sleep Deprivation in the Academic Performance

    sleep deprivation in college students essay

  3. Cause and extent of sleep deprivation (600 Words)

    sleep deprivation in college students essay

  4. PPT

    sleep deprivation in college students essay

  5. Sleep Deprivation Essay

    sleep deprivation in college students essay

  6. Sleep Deprivation in College Students by christinacmd

    sleep deprivation in college students essay

VIDEO

  1. Self introduction in English for college students

COMMENTS

  1. Causes and consequences of sleepiness among college students

    Sleep deprivation is defined as obtaining inadequate sleep to support adequate daytime alertness.4 How much sleep a young adult needs is not clearly known, but is thought to be 8 hours.5,6 Most college students are sleep deprived, as 70.6% of students report obtaining less than 8 hours of sleep.7 The impact of educational major on sleepiness ...

  2. The Effect of Sleep Quality on Students' Academic Achievement

    Background. Sleep is an inseparable part of human health and life, and is pivotal to learning and practice as well as physical and mental health. 1 Studies have suggested that insufficient sleep, increased frequency of short-term sleep, and going to sleep late and getting up early affect the learning capacity, academic performance, and neurobehavioral functions. 2, 3 Previous studies have ...

  3. The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on College Students

    Focusing on the college student population, sleep deprivation is extremely prevalent. As nursing students, countless sleepless nights have been experienced due to work schedules, required coursework, and clinical rotations. It has been found that "up to 60% of all college students suffer from a poor sleep quality" (Schlarb et al., 2017, p. 1).

  4. Causes and consequences of sleepiness among college students

    The consequences of sleep deprivation and daytime sleepiness are especially problematic to college students and can result in lower grade point averages, increased risk of academic failure, compromised learning, impaired mood, and increased risk of motor vehicle accidents. This article reviews the current prevalence of sleepiness and sleep ...

  5. Problem of Sleep Deprivation

    Effects of Sleep Deprivation. Sleep deprivation has a host of negative effects which affect people of all ages. The commonest effect is stress. Most people who suffer from sleep deficiency are likely to experience depression frequently as compared to their counterparts who enjoy quality sleep (Conroy et al. 188).

  6. Why You Should Make a Good Night's Sleep a Priority

    And over half of college students sleep less than seven hours per night. The numbers are similar for high school students; ... For example, did you know that sleep deprivation can create the same level of cognitive impairment as drinking alcohol? According to the CDC, staying awake for 18 hours can have the same effect as a blood alcohol ...

  7. How Sleep Impacts College Students

    Students that does not sleep well most often faces many different challenges that prevents them to be successful in college. For college students that have "sleep deprivation and poor quality sleep has been linked to GPA, academic performance, and learning capabilities". (Carter, B., Chopak-Foss, J., & Punungwe, F. B. (2016).

  8. Psychosocial Correlates of Insomnia Among College Students

    However, at least 60% of college students have poor quality sleep and garner, on average, 7 hours of sleep per night (2). Previous research showed that up to 75% of college students reported occasional sleep disturbances, while 15% reported overall poor sleep quality (3). In another work, among a sample of 191 undergraduate students ...

  9. Essay on Sleep Deprivation and College Students

    Essay on Sleep Deprivation and College Students. Published: 2021/11/22. Number of words: 1126. Abstract. This paper highlights and discusses the effects of sleep deprivation among college students. The paper adopts an argumentative approach aimed at proving that sleep deprivation is more harmful than beneficial to students. Some of the negative ...

  10. Quality of Sleep and Depression in College Students: A Systematic

    Sleep quality, a measurement that is related to sleep hygiene, has been shown to be poor in this population in different countries, affecting in some cases around 50% of the students 1 - 3. An accumulation of research shows that the relationship between disturbed sleep and depression is complex and bidirectional.

  11. How Sleep Deprivation Affects College Students' Academic ...

    This study analyses the effect of sleep deprivation on the performance of college students. Students usually neglect sleep for the purpose of excelling in their academic performance. They sacrifice sleep so as to accomplish school projects and assignments. Their lack of enough sleep makes them dysfunctional in other areas well.

  12. Research Finds College Students Should Get More Sleep

    Using these measures, Parrilla was able to get a fuller picture of how bad sleep impacts the lives of college students. "We found negative correlations between the amount of sleep and working memory and executive function," Parrilla said. In total, 62 percent of participants reported poor sleep. Those who reported less than seven hours a ...

  13. Sleep Deprivation Impacts on College Students Essay

    The sample population used in this study included 44 college students. The individual participants were expected to complete "Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal.". This was to be done either after 8 hours of sleep or 24 hours of the instance of sleep deprivation. Upon completion of the cognitive tasks required, the participants were ...

  14. Sleep Deprivation in College Students

    Sleep deprived students can lead to lower academic performances, which in turn can influence their future. Besides lowering our academic performance it can also affect our ability to perform cognitive tasks, and can even generate other problems. The major cause for accidents by workers and poor performance by college students are a consequence ...

  15. The Effects of Sleep Deprivation in the College Student

    Sleep deprivation can be detrimental to a college student's health because the body and the brain is lacking the essential rest it needs in order to function properly. This can cause lack of focus and they may be subject to falling asleep in class causing them to miss out on important information.

  16. Essay on Sleep Deprivation in College Students

    This essay views sleep and sleep deprivation from five different motivational perspectives in order to gain a holistic understanding of the phenomena. ... irritability, and memory problems (Bernstein 147). As a college student sleep more, the grade point average, memory, and immunity will increased. The solutions to sleeping more are time ...

  17. The Effects Of Sleep Deprivation On College Students Essay

    Research shows that 70% of college students qualify as sleep deprived. Sleep deprivation has also been linked with several diseases/disorders, including: depression, anxiety, and obesity. Our research question investigated how sleep deprivation in college students affects them physiologically and psychologically. The participants included ...

  18. Sleep Deprivation and Learning at University Essay

    Nowadays, sleep deprivation is considered one of the most common problems among students of different educational establishments. In fact, it frequently results in poor academic performance and physical health issues. In terms of learning, sleep plays a prominent role, as this process consolidates memory and improves concentration.

  19. Sleeping Deprivation on College Students Free Essay Example

    Essay, Pages 5 (1001 words) Views. 862. Sleeping deprivation occurs when a person does not get enough sleep. Sleep is very important because you need to get enough sleep so that you can be refreshed for the next day. For a person to get enough sleep and function very well, depends on ages. According to experts, lack of sleep in very harmful to ...

  20. Sleep Deprivation Essay

    Sleep Deprivation among College Students One of the most common and high risk disorders among college students is sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation is when one does not obtain the full amount of sleep that is required for the body to function properly. ... Price 1 Kyle Price Prof. Bridget McIntrye English 101 27 Feb 2016 Cause/Effect Essay ...

  21. Sleep Deprivation among College Students Essay Example

    The issue of sleep deprivation among college students is something that should the higher education institutions need to look into to ensure safety of the students. Higher education is an important factor that the society rely on to determine the future an individual, the highest population of the people living the good life in the society have ...

  22. Essay On Sleep Deprivation Among College Students

    A definition of sleep deprivation is the condition of not having enough sleep. Generally adults and teens need at least 9-10 hours of sleep a night. In a survey done in 2009, 69% of high school students said that they were getting on average less than 8 hours of sleep on school nights.…. 653 Words. 3 Pages.

  23. 89 Sleep Deprivation Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

    The Influence of Sleep Deprivation on Human Body. It contradicts living in harmony with God, as when the person is irritated and moody, it is more difficult to be virtuous and to be a source of joy for others. We will write. a custom essay specifically for you by our professional experts. 809 writers online.

  24. Sleep Deprivation and College Students essay

    Sleep deprivation negativelyimpacts their safety, health and emotional wellbeing, and mostimportantly their GPA. Therefore, this essay will talk about theoutcomes of sleep deprivation and how it linked to the academicperformance of college students. Moreover, the essay will discuss theimportance of sleep in enhancing students' memory and ...