Running head: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SLEEP AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
The Relationship between Sleep and Academic Performance
Dan Saunders
Rowan University
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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SLEEP AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
Introduction
There are mass amounts of literature that supports a good night’s sleep for optimal
cognitive performance. Many “brain shortages” have been recorded following a night of
disrupted sleep. (McCoy Strecker 2011) Without sleep, humans would not be able to function
properly. Sleep lets the body heal and recuperate. People need sleep. There are many questions
about sleep and how it affects the health and daily living of people. Sleep can be compromised
because of bad sleep habits such as going to bed late, having caffeine late in the day, or not
keeping one’s sleep area quiet and dark. This, however, is not the only way sleep can be
comprised. Sleep can also be disrupted by certain sleep disorders such as sleep apnea. (Mitru et
al. 2002) One heavily studied topic when it comes to sleep is the relationship between sleep and
academic performance.
A study done by Jane F. Gaultney (2010) attempted to determine whether sleep disorders
of college students had any effect on their academic performance. Gaultney’s (2010) purpose for
the study was to specifically examine college students. 1,845 college students took part in the
study. All students were attendees of large universities, and they were all enrolled in a
psychology lab. Gender, Age, and Race were strictly considered. The students were surveyed in
order to determine sleep disorders such as insomnia, sleepwalking, and nightmares, as well as
sleep hygiene. Students averaged 6.79 hours of sleep on school or work nights and 9.3 hours of
sleep on other nights. Grade-point averages of all students were collected from the registrar’s
offices at the close of the semester. Twenty-seven percent of all students involved in the study
were found to be at risk for one or more sleep disorders. Students with sleep disorders had lower
grade point averages than those without sleep disorders. Also, the students who had slept longer
and the students who were more consistent with their sleep schedules ended up having higher
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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SLEEP AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
grades. The relation between sleep and grade point average was not strong, but there was a
relationship between the two.
Although, this study does help us understand the relation of sleep and grade-point
average, the topic still needs further examination. The students used for this study were each
enrolled in large universities as well as a psychology lab. It is possible, if not likely, that these
students have had some knowledge of the effects of sleep on the brain prior to the study.
Therefore it is likely that many of the students made a greater effort than students not in this
study, to achieve decent sleep. As mentioned in the study, Students averaged 6.79 hours of sleep
on school or work nights. A peer-reviewed article by Hor Hyun and Mehdi Tafti (2009) shows
that six to nine hours of sleep are needed in order to keep one’s health from being compromised.
Serge Onyper and Pamela Thacher’s (2012) articles states that humans between ages eighteen
and twenty-three should get about 8.4 hours of sleep per night. So 6.79 hours of sleep is decent.
There needs to be more diversity among subjects. If the study was randomized among a whole
school rather than specific majors, the findings would be much more significant.
Another study, done by Pamela Thacher (2008), used students who have gone a whole
night without sleep. 120 students were examined. These students were found to go to bed late on
a normal basis and have below average grades. While this gives a wider range of students than
just the psychology students, it still only looks at specific students. Also, the thinking behind this
study was that many students in college are going to party and possibly stay up all night at times.
The findings that students who stayed up all night had lower grades could be misleading. Since
many, if not all, of these students drank alcohol, the poor grades could be due partially to alcohol
consumption rather than loss of sleep.
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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SLEEP AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
William Kelly, Kathryn Kelly, and Robert Clanton (2001) performed a study to
determine the relationship between length of sleep and grade-point average as opposed to
Gaultney’s study (2010) which focused more on sleep disorders. There were 148 students who
took part in the study and all were part of undergraduate psychology classes. Students ranged
from age eighteen to forty-two. The study categorized three types of sleepers: short sleepers slept
six hours or less, long sleepers slept 9 hours or more and average sleepers slept 6-9 hours. These
periods of sleep were based on twenty-four hour periods. Students completed a questionnaire to
indicate the amount of sleep they get. Grade point averages were obtained from the students
rather than the registrar and they were overall grade-point averages rather than averages from a
specific semester. Seventy-two percent of participants reported to be average sleepers. The
remaining participants were either short or long sleepers. Those numbers were about even.
Neither age nor gender presented any significance toward sleep length or grade-point average.
Long sleepers were found to have higher grades than short sleepers. There was no significant
difference in grades between average sleepers and long sleepers or average sleepers and short
sleepers.
Andrew Howell, Jesse Jahrig, and Russell Powell (2004) executed a study in anticipation
that sleep quality would be directly related to academic performance. There were 414
participants in this study and all were psychology students. The Epworth Sleepiness Scale was
used to determine daytime sleepiness among the students. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index
was used to determine the students’ sleep quality and disturbance with specific questions about
each student’s sleep experience. The researchers took current semester grade-point averages and
psychology grades from the students’ official transcripts. Grades were not significantly affected
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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SLEEP AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
by sleep. Sleep quality related more heavily to academic performance for students who had a full
course load.
There are many factors which determine someone’s quality and quantity of sleep. Some
factors are: living situation, stress, and alcohol use (Galambos, et al. 2013). Other factors could
be bad sleep habits or sleep disorders. Sleep appears to have a significant effect on academic
performance, but there needs to be more research done. Studies need to be more randomized and
there must be greater variety in students. There should be some students involved who live on
campus and some who live off. Students from all different majors and even different types of
schools should be included. Students should also be unaware of what the study is looking for. If
the subjects know what they are being studied for, that may have some effect on their sleep
habits or grades. These specifications will hopefully bring to light some answers and make the
relationship between sleep and grade-point average more clear.
Study Population
Students from a variety of schools and majors were used in this study. They were chosen
randomly, not based on their sleep quality or quantity. A total of ten students were used in the
study.
Research Questions
1. Do students who wake up feeling rested have higher grade point averages than those who
wake up not feeling rested?
2. How much sleep do the students who feel rested in the morning get compared to those who
do not feel rested?
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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SLEEP AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
Methods
Subjects
Subjects consisted of college students, ages eighteen to twenty-two. A total of ten students participated.
There were five male and five female students. Each student was randomly selected from a variety of
schools in the United States.
Instrumentation
The study used a survey in attempt to examine whether or not sleep affects academic performance.
The of Effects of Sleep Quality and Quantity on Academic Performance College Student Survey
Directions: Answer the following survey questions in the column to the right.
Survey Questions
How much sleep do you average each night?
Do you normally wake up throughout the night? If so, how
many times approximately?
Do you get more or less sleep on nights before a test, and how
much more or less?
What is your average test grade this semester?
How many hours a week do you put into your studies outside of
normal class time?
On a scale of 1-10, how well rested do you feel upon waking?
(1=not at all; 10=fully rested)
On a scale of 1-10, how well rested do you feel upon waking on
a test day?
Do you wake up naturally or by something externally
(alarm/person)?
What is your GPA for this semester so far? If you do not know,
give an estimate.
How much sleep did you average each night last semester?
What was your final GPA last semester?
Additional comments:
Answers
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SLEEP AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
Procedures
The names of college students between age eighteen and twenty-two were combined into a list. From the
list, ten students were chosen at random. The students were then contacted by way of email and asked if
they would agree to be part of the study. Any students who declined the offer were replaced with other
students from the list. These students were then contacted the same way as before. After each student
gave consent to participate, they were then sent the survey by way of e-mail. The students each filled out
the survey and e-mailed it back.
Data Analysis Methods
Data and analysis consisted of some qualitative and mostly quantitative measures. Answers were
compared and grouped so that an understanding of sleep’s relation to academic performance could be
gained. All quantitative data was averaged to find the mean of each question. There were two types of
questions asked. Some questions asked about sleep quality and quantity while others asked about the
students’ grades. Below the survey was an area for additional comments so that the subjects could provide
additional information, if any, in order to give the study more clarity.
Results
Study Sample
The study consisted of ten subjects. Administration of the survey was done through Facebook.
Analysis of the Data
The data obtained in this study was analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The
majority of data was quantitatively analyzed.
Quantitative Analysis
Coding System
All questions, except question 8, of the survey were measured quantitatively. Questions 1, 3, 5, and 10
were answered in terms of hours. Question 2 was a “yes” or “no” question. The subjects that answered
“yes” were asked to give the amount of times that they were woken up during the night. (“no” = 0, “yes”
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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SLEEP AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
= 1 or more). Questions 4, 9, and 11 were answered in terms of grade averages. Questions 6 and 7 had
to be answered on a scale of 1-10. All data was averaged to find the mean of each answer.
Descriptive Statistics
hours slept
times woken up over night
Hours slept on nights before a test
average test grade
hours spent in studies per week
Feeling rested
Feeling rested on test day
current GPA
hours slept last semester
GPA last semester
number
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
mean
7.2
1.3
6.2
89
14.3
6.8
6.2
3.61
7.225
3.615
Qualitative Analysis
Personal wakeup method
9 subjects reported to wake up by an alarm or other outside force on a daily basis. The other 2 subjects
said that they wake up naturally.
Additional comments
This is extra information which people included with the survey.
1. I fall asleep in my earliest class (8 AM) at least once a week.
2. I have had problems with sleep for a long time and had a sleep test a few years ago to test for
narcolepsy.
Conclusion
There was no significant difference between how well rested subjects felt and the amount of sleep they
got. How well rested subjects felt also did not seem to affect their grades. The amount of sleep, however,
did appear to affect the students’ academic performance. Students who averaged 7.5 hours of sleep or
more each night had a 3.8 GPA or higher, while the students who averaged 7 hours of sleep or less had a
3.3 GPA or lower. The results point towards one’s amount of sleep affecting academic performance, but
more studies need to be done.
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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SLEEP AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
References
Galambos, N. L., Vargas Lascano, D. I., Howard, A. L., & Maggs, J. L. (2013). Who Sleeps
Best? Longitudinal Patterns and Covariates of Change in Sleep Quantity, Quality, and
Timing Across Four University Years. Behavioral Sleep Medicine, 11(1), 8-22.
Gaultney, J. F. (2010). The Prevalence of Sleep Disorders in College Students: Impact on
Academic Performance. Journal Of American College Health, 59(2), 91-97.
Howell, A. J., Jahrig, J. C., & Powell, R. A. (2004). SLEEP QUALITY, SLEEP PROPENSITY
AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE. Perceptual & Motor Skills, 99(2), 525-535.
Hyun, H., & Tafti, M. (2009). How Much Sleep Do We Need?. Science, 325(5942), 825-826.
Kelly, W. E., Kelly, K. E., & Clanton, R. C. (2001). THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SLEEP
LENGTH AND GRADE-POINT AVERAGE AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS.
College Student Journal, 35(1), 84.
McCoy, J. G., & Strecker, R. E. (2011). The cognitive cost of sleep lost. Neurobiology Of
Learning & Memory, 96(4), 564-582. doi:10.1016/j.nlm.2011.07.004
Mitru, G., Millrood, D. L., & Mateika, J. H. (2002). The Impact of Sleep on Learning and
Behavior in Adolescents. Teachers College Record, 104(4), 704.
Onyper, S. V., Thacher, P. V., Gilbert, J. W., & Gradess, S. G. (2012). Class Start Times, Sleep,
and Academic Performance in College: A Path Analysis. Chronobiology International:
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doi:10.3109/07420528.2012.655868
Singleton Jr., R. A., & Wolfson, A. R. (2009). Alcohol Consumption, Sleep, and Academic
Performance Among College Students. Journal Of Studies On Alcohol & Drugs, 70(3),
355-363.
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Thacher, P. V. (2008). University Students and the "All Nighter": Correlates and Patterns of
Students' Engagement in a Single Night of Total Sleep Deprivation. Behavioral Sleep
Medicine, 6(1), 16-31. doi:10.1080/15402000701796114
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