National Survey on the importance of sleep in the quality of academic life and mental health of college students in Portugal

Abstract

The academic years are a period of vulnerability when considering sleep problems and mental health. Growing evidence suggests poor sleep patterns are related to impaired academic life and lower psychological well-being. The aim of this study was to explore the importance of sleep habits and report the associations of sleep problems with quality of academic life and different dimensions of mental health (e.g. worries, anxiety, self-regulation and resilience) in a large sample of college students. The HBSC/JUnP data base comprises a representative sample of 2991 college students (n=2203; 73.7% women), aged from 18 to 35 years old (22.43±3.83). Participants sociodemographic characteristics included sex and age. Besides, participants were inquired about sleep duration, characteristics of their sleep habits, questions about quality academic life, namely feeling bored in university, pressure from academic work and academic performance perception and mental health, namely worries, anxiety, self-regulation and resilience. Results showed most young people report an average value for sleep habits (M=4.41; SD=1.46) and that they sleep an average of 7 hours a night. More than half of the young people report either being affected by difficulty falling asleep, showing signs of sleep onset insomnia (67.7%). The conducted analyses indicated that the difficulty falling asleep (having insomnia) was associated with poor/reasonable academic performance perception, higher levels of concerns and anxiety, and lower levels of self-regulation and resilience, thus jeopardizing the mental health of college students. In turn, that characteristics of sleep was also associated with poor sleep habits. In conclusion, this study showed that poor sleep habits were associated with a worse level of academic performance perception and low levels of mental health among college students in Portugal. Universities offer enormous potential as settings to promote sleep-health programs since they can reach many young people who are futureoriented and willing to learn. There is then the need for academic researchers, teaching staff and health professionals working for college students health, to develop and test a wide array of sleeppromoting interventions (e.g., education classes, online programs, adjustment of class time), thus preventing negative secondary outcomes.

A Circadian Hygiene Education Initiative Covering the Pre-pandemic and Pandemic Period Resulted in Earlier Get-Up Times in Italian University Students: An Ecological Study

“…Poor sleep quality was common, with more than half of the students reporting abnormal, albeit mild, sleep disruption. Although direct comparisons are not necessarily easy, as published studies on poor sleep in university students are heterogeneous for country, student populations, questionnaire/assessment tools, and/or questionnaire thresholds utilized, our results seem slightly more encouraging than those of Reis et al (2021) , who recently reported a prevalence of insomnia of 67.7% in college students in Portugal, and those of Driller et al (2021) , who reported 67% between bad and moderate sleepers among first-year health degree undergraduates in New Zealand. Despite reasonable sleep duration, social jetlag ( Wittmann et al, 2006 ; Korman et al, 2020 ) was also common.…”

Health-Promoting Behavior and Lifestyle Characteristics of Students as a Function of Sex and Academic Level

“…Impaired sleep was reported by 42% of our respondents, lower than the US (62%), Portugal (68%), and Ethiopia (56%) [ 31 , 32 , 99 ]. We found that more females experienced high sleep latencies, sleep disturbances, and daytime dysfunctions, supporting similar sex differences in Ethiopia [ 32 ].…”

“…Given the above findings, multipronged strategies need an overarching focus highlighting the health–academic achievement links, e.g., insomnia, excessive alcohol and dehydration that are associated with poorer academic performance and cognition [ 96 , 99 , 121 , 122 , 123 ]. Efforts should consider student participation in all student health promotion processes, target the student body, and particularly the identified risk groups e.g., males (lower FVC), females (eating more during stress), and BSc students (poorer nutrition/sleep quality, more ATOD use).…”

Occupational balance and associated factors among students during higher education within healthcare and social work in Sweden: a multicentre repeated cross-sectional study

“…However, it should be noted that research shows that almost half of students who report good sleep quality are classified as having poor sleep quality according to validated measurement instruments 22. The reduced percentage of students without sleeping problems53 may affect academic success in higher education since sleeping problems are associated with poorer academic performance,18 54 and women are more severely affected than men 55. Balancing time commitments between academic studies and social life can be difficult for students in higher education and may contribute to the lack of adequate sleep duration, especially for first-year students who are adjusting to the university environment 21.…”

“…Sleeping well is essential for health, well-being, quality of life and cognitive and physical performance 17. Sleeping well has been associated with less anxiety, more resilience18 and better academic performance 19. Sleep allows the body and brain to recover17 and may contribute to balance in life for students during higher education 20.…”