Sex-specific sleep patterns among university students in Lebanon: impact on depression and academic performance

Abstract

Good sleep quality and quantity are fundamental to the maintenance of normal physiological processes. Changes in sleep patterns are commonly observed among young adults and are shown to impact neurocognitive, academic, and psychological well-being. Given the scarcity of sleep information about Lebanon and acknowledging the sex differences in various sleep dimensions, we conducted a study that aimed at assessing sex differences in sleep habits among university students in Lebanon in relation to psychoacademic status. A total of 540 students (50.6% females) completed a questionnaire that inquired about sociodemographics and evaluated sleep quality and depression using the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), respectively. The mean PSQI global score (6.57±3.49) indicated poor sleep, with no significant differences between men and women. The sleep/wake rhythm was delayed on weekends for both sexes. Females exhibited earlier bedtimes and rise times and longer sleep durations on both weekdays and weekends. However, unlike males females showed a greater phase delay in wake times than bedtimes on weekends (149 minutes vs 74 minutes, respectively). In all, 70.9% of females suffered from depressive symptoms, which was a significantly higher proportion compared with 58.5% of males (P<0.01). Based on the mean cumulative self-reported grade point average (GPA), the academic performance of females was significantly better than that of males (2.8±0.61 vs 2.65±0.61, P<0.05, respectively). Depression, as scored by CES-D, in females was significantly negatively correlated with the cumulative GPA (r=−0.278, P<0.01), earlier wake time (r=−0.168, P<0.05), and average sleep duration (r=−0.221, P<0.01) on weekdays. GPA of males was significantly correlated with bedtime on weekends (r=−0.159, P<0.05). We conclude that sex differences in sleep timing, such as bedtime/rise time and nocturnal sleep duration, rather than sleep quality exist among Lebanese university students. Sex-specific sleep patterns have differential impact on psychological and academic well-being.

Health Behaviors, Life Skills, Mental Health, and Demographic Factors Associated with Mental Health among University Students in a Developing Country.&nbsp;

“…This study reveals that 20% of the university students in Lebanon are suffering from anxiety or/and depression which is similar to the previous reports in Lebanon that showed 24.2% of university students are categorized as mild-to-moderately depressed (Kabrita & Hajjar-Muca, 2016). This percentage is alarming not only in Lebanon but in similar context such as Jordan that has high unemployment rates, high number of Syrian refugees, and cultural and religious restrictions (Dalky & Gharaibeh, 2019).…”

Impact of sleep problems on daytime function in school life: a cross-sectional study involving Japanese university students

“…It has been reported that as high as 33-59% of university students have poor sleep quality, which is associated with their worsened health status and academic performance [5,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. In these previous studies, sleep quality was defined as "poor" or "good" using the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), a widely used scale evaluating the following seven components: subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, use of sleep medication, and daytime dysfunction [20].…”

The Relation of Sleep, Distress, and Coping Strategies—What Male and Female Students Can Learn from Each Other?

“…The ratio for men and women developing insomnia symptoms is increasing with age [7]. According to Kabrita et al [8] and Tsai et al [9], women reported significant earlier bedtime and rise time, longer sleep-onset latency, more awakenings, and poorer sleep quality based on subjective sleep measures (sleep log), whereas objective sleep measures (polysomnography) showed a better sleep quality, longer sleep duration, shorter sleep-onset latency, and higher sleep efficiency in women compared with men [10]. Research also stated that sleep is essential for an efficient consolidation of knowledge and skills [11].…”