Sleep deprivation - the condition of not having enough sleep - is a common health issue for students in higher education. This issue has several underlying and negative consequences, but there are a few helpful improvements that students can make to reduce its frequency and severity.
On average, university students get 6 to 6.9 hours of sleep every night. Based on the Treatment for Sleep Disorders, the recommended amount of sleep needed for college students is around 8 hours. According to Stanford University's Department for the Diagnosis, 68% of college students aren't getting the sleep they need. The main causes of sleep deprivation include poor sleep hygiene, biology, use of technology, and use of drugs. The effects can damage the student’s GPA, as well as negatively affect the student's focus and memory. Furthermore, the effects on the individual’s mental health can be harmful too. Students may face depression, anxiety, and difficulty maintaining their relationships. There are many possible solutions to combat sleep deprivation including improving bedroom environment, reducing exposure to blue light, and taking naps during the day.
Background
Sleepiness is known as the struggle to stay awake and remain alert during the day and results in drowsiness or unintended sleep. Additionally, the term sleep deprivation can be defined as having a lack of sleep that does not support daytime awareness. In most literature, sleep deprivation is also noted as acute sleep deprivation or chronic partial sleep deprivation. Chronic partial sleep deprivation is a form of sleep deprivation caused when students obtain some but still inadequate sleep. Acute sleep deprivation is more widely known as the situation in which one is awake for 24 hours or longer.
From student reports, 70.65% of students are sleep deprived and 50% of college students exhibit daytime sleepiness. Additionally, only 4% of students obtain 7 hours of sleep or more. The average was 5.7 hours of sleep and students on average pull 2.7 “all-nighters” per month. Note that “all-nighters” is the term used when one does not sleep throughout the entire night.
Causes
Sleep hygiene
Inadequate sleep hygiene is one reason why college students experience sleep deprivation. Sleep hygiene is defined as habits or practices that allow for healthy amounts of sleep on a daily basis. Good sleep hygiene habits include keeping a consistent sleep schedule, having a quiet sleep environment, avoiding the consumption of caffeine after lunch, and minimizing alcohol consumption before bed.
Technology
Using technology before falling asleep can affect a student’s sleep pattern. The blue light that is emitted from the screens of cell phones, computers, and other devices stops the production of melatonin, a hormone that controls the sleep-wake cycle of the circadian rhythm. This reduction of the amount of melatonin produced makes it harder to fall and stay asleep. The National Sleep Foundation conducted a poll in 2011 and reported that approximately 90% of Americans used technology in the hour before bed. The poll noted that young adults and teenagers were more likely to use cell phones, computers, and video game consoles than other adults. Furthermore, 22% of participants reported going to sleep with cell phone ringers on in their bedroom and 10% reported awakenings in at least a few nights per week due to their cell phones' ringers. Among those with the cell phone ringers on, being awakened by their cell phone was correlated to difficulty sustaining sleep.
According to Elizabeth B. Dowdell and Brianne Q. Clayton, sleep-deprived college students performed significantly worse than peers who had adequate sleep on cognitive skills. Furthermore, the sleep-deprived students were not aware of the extent to which sleep deprivation negatively affects their ability to complete cognitive tasks. Research has shown that individuals with excessive technology use in the bedroom have later bedtimes and tend to sleep later in the morning. The reliance on technology in the bedroom, which should be associated only with sleep, creates difficulty separating waking and sleeping activities. When measuring the amount of sleep during the week compared to the weekend, students with four or more technological devices in their bedroom had significantly less sleep compared to those with three or fewer devices. Since many students do not utilize a do not disturb mode or silence their phones at night, each notification and alert from their phones disrupts their sleep in terms of quality and duration.