Students, Alumni and Friends – Concordia University ...



Tanel Baehr 12/18/15The Relationship between Sleep and GPAs in College StudentsConcordia UniversityStatement of Problem: College is often said to be a significant time of one’s life. It is full of new experiences including living away from one’s parents for most likely the first time, encountering demanding classes, and facing new social contexts. College involves making one’s own decisions, which most students are not accustomed to. One important decision that college students must make concerns sleep. Studies show that the majority of college students are sleep deprived as a result of not sleeping enough during the night and not getting good quality sleep when they do sleep (Galambos, 2010). Since the purpose of college is to prepare a student for their future career, it is important that these student are alert and retaining and understanding the material that they are being taught. Grade Point Average (GPA) is a number representing the average value of the accumulated final grades earned in courses. This average is based on a 4.0 point scale. GPAs are a reflection of what grades the student gets in college and are usually looked at by future employers. It is important that a student has at least a GPA of 3.0 to show that they have worked hard and that they understood the materials that they have been taught throughout their college career. Purpose: The purpose of this study is two-fold. First, the study will examine the relationship between the quantity of sleep and GPA scores in college students. Second, the study will examine the quality of sleep in relation to GPAs in college students.Research Questions: How does the amount of sleep affect GPAs of college students? How does the quality of sleep affect the GPA scores of college students? How many hours of quality sleep is related to good (at least 3.0) GPAs? Do students living on campus or off campus get more sleep? Do students living on campus or off campus get better quality sleep?Definition of Terms: Evening phase preference: “Night Owls” or people who like to stay up late (Taylor, 2010).Delayed sleep phase syndrome: Difficulty in falling asleep and waking up at normal times (long sleep latency on weekdays, normal sleep length on weekends, and difficulty staying asleep) (Taylor, 2010).Grade Point Average (GPA) is a number representing the average value of the accumulated final grades earned in courses. This average is based on a 4.0 point scale.Significance of Study: This issue has been studied before. Many of the studies also include other components such as, the effects of sleep on job performance and the changes in sleep throughout four years of college. This study only includes the effects of amount of sleep and quality of sleep on GPAs in college students. This study is important because it shows college students the importance of sleep for their GPA scores, which could impact their future. Review of Literature: “Sleep problems have been associated with deficits in attention and academic performance, drowsy driving, risk-taking behavior and depression, impaired social relationships, and poorer health” (Gaultney, p. 91, 2010). “A common sleep problem among college students is sleep deprivation resulting in excessive daytime sleepiness” (Gaultney, p. 91, 2010). A typical coping technique for dealing with sleep deprivation is to attempt to make up for lost sleep by increasing sleep on the weekends, a practice that actually worsens the problem” (Gaultney, p. 91, 2010). In addition, many students tend to have evening phase preference, meaning that they prefer to stay up late at night (Taylor, 2010). Evening phase preference “…has been correlated with habitual napping, unplanned oversleeping, excessive daytime sleepiness, and sleep disorders (Taylor, p. 541). Evening phase preference is also associated with worse psychological functioning, including depression, anxiety, stress and difficulties coping, substance use and abuse, and behavioral and emotional problems and suicidality. Finally, evening phase preference is related to academic procrastination, reports of poorer memory, missing classes due to over-sleeping, and decreased academic performance (Taylor, 2010). One study stated that, “Those who reported no sleep disorder had a higher GPA…than those who reported at least one sleep disorder…” (Gaultney, p. 93, 2010). Another study found that, “…sleep-deprived students performed poorly on learning capacity skills such as attention, memory, and problem-solving tasks, and that the lack of sleep therefore affected their academic performance. Moreover, sleep loss resulted in daytime sleepiness that was also correlated with poor academic performance” (Chiang, p. 3, 2014). Sleep length was also found to be important. Researchers found that, “…the mean GPA of short sleepers was 0.5 points lower than that of long sleepers” (Chiang, p. 3, 2014). Another study found that, “…in semesters when GPA was higher, students reported going to bed earlier. On average, each 1-point increase in GPA was related to a 14-min earlier bedtime” (Galambos, p. 18, 2010). There are several factors that affect a student’s sleep. One factor for sleep is living arrangements. Not all studies found a correlation with living arrangements and sleep, however one study found that “…poor sleep was more frequent among students living on than off campus” (Galambos, p. 9, 2010). Another factor is the student’s social life. It was found that, “Socially active university students were more likely to be without sleep pathology, compared to the less socially active. In a daily diary study, university students who got together with friends during the day slept more that night. Considering the first year of university, in months when students spent more time with friends, they also reported less disturbed sleep. Social activities might be related to better sleep because of the impact of social support on psychological well-being, as social support buffers the negative effects of stress” (Galambos, p. 10, 2010). Finally “Alcohol use is also linked with less sleep, later sleep-wake schedules, bedtime delay (later weekend than weeknight bedtimes), and oversleep (sleeping more on weekends than weeknights)” (Galambos, p. 10, 2010). In women, sleep quantity improved throughout their college career while men’s sleep quality declined. “…By the end of their fourth year, women had gained 40 minutes of sleep per average night and men had lost 22 minutes” (Galambos, p. 18, 2010). Methodology: Population: The population that was studied consisted of 1,152 undergraduate students at a small, Midwestern university in the 2014-2015 school year.Instrument Design: A written questionnaire comprised of nine simple questions was created using the online tool, Survey Monkey. All of the questions were multiple choice and either allowed the students to choose only one answer or more than one answer. In addition, on a few of the questions, students were given the option to write in their own answer if none of the choices worked for them.Procedures: The questionnaire was distributed to students at a small, Midwestern university in the 2014-2015 school year via email using Survey Monkey. Data Analysis: Data was collected and analyzed using simple descriptive statistics with specific cross tabulation. Discussion of Results: This nine item questionnaire was distributed to 1,152 students at a small, Midwestern university in the 2014-2015 school year. Fifty-seven students responded to the questionnaire with an overall response rate of 4.95%. Out of the 57 students that began the survey, 52 completed the survey with a rate of 91.23%. This questionnaire consisted of demographic questions as well as questions asking the students about their sleep (quantity and quality), GPA, and what they thought was affecting their sleep and GPA. All of the questions were multiple choice. Of the 57 respondents, 48 (84.21%) of the students were female and 9 (15.79%) of the students were male. Seventeen (29.82%) respondents were freshmen, 17 (29.82%) were sophomores, 7 (12.28%) were juniors and 16 (28.07%) were seniors or super seniors (Figure 1). Forty-three (75.44%) of the respondents lived on-campus and 14 (24.56%) lived off-campus. Figure 1: ClassificationN=57The students were asked how many hours of sleep they got on weekdays (Sunday through Thursday) on average. None (0%) of the respondents slept 0-3.99 hours, 24 (42.86%) slept 4.00 to 6.99 hours, 32 (57.14%) slept 7.00-8.99 hours and none (0%) of the students slept 9.00 or more hours of sleep each night (Figure 2). One cross tab showed that freshmen got the least amount of sleep with 52.94% sleeping for 4.00 to 6.99 hours. Another cross tab showed that students living on-campus and off-campus slept exactly the same hours with 42.86% sleeping 4.00-6.99 hours and 57.14% sleeping 7.00-8.99 hours per night on weekdays. Figure 2: Quantity of Sleep on WeekdaysN=56The students were then asked how many hours of sleep they got each night during the weekend (Friday through Saturday) on average. None (0%) of the respondents slept 0-3.99 hours, 10 (17.54%) slept 4.00-6.99 hours, 28 (49.12%) slept 7.00-8.99 hours and 19 (33.33%) slept 9.00 or more hours per night (Figure 3). Figure 3: Quantity of Sleep on the Weekends N=57The next question asked the students what they thought was affecting the amount of sleep that they got. This question allowed the students to check all of the choices that applied. Fifty (87.72%) of respondents said that homework was affecting their quantity of sleep, 26 (45.61) answered stress, 12 (21.05%) answered job, 32 (56.14%) answered extra-curricular activities, 34 (59.65%) answered distractions such as their cell phone, TV, video games or Netflix, and 41 (71.93%) answered social life (Figure 4).Figure 4: Factors Affecting Quantity of SleepN=57The students were asked what they thought was affecting the quality of sleep that they got. This question also allowed the respondents to check all answers that applied. Two (3.64%) answered that medications affected their quality of sleep, 30 (54.55%) answered stress, 2 (3.64%) answered sleep disorder, 20 (36.36%) answered noise, and 16 (29.09%) answered that nothing affected their quality of sleep. In addition, this question allowed respondents to write in their own answer. Four respondents did this and answered caffeine intake, roommate, depression and having kids (Figure 5). Figure 5: Factors Affecting Quality of SleepN=55The next question asked the students what their overall GPA average was. Forty-six students (80.70%) answered 3.0-4.0, 11 (19.30%) answered 2.0-2.99, and none (0%) answered less than 2.0 (Figure 6). Students living off-campus were significantly less disturbed by noise (7.69%) than people living on-campus (45.24%). Figure 6: GPAN=57The final question asked students what they thought was affecting their overall GPA. This question allowed students to check all answers that applied. Three (5.77%) students answered job, 17 (32.69%) answered lack of sleep, 26 (50%) answered difficulty of material, 5 (9.62%) answered not completing homework, 26 (50%) answered not studying, 14 (26.92%) answered extra-curricular activities, 25 (48.08%) answered distractions such as their cell phone, TV, video games or Netflix, 18 (34.62%) answered social life. In addition, students write in their own answered. Three students did this and their answers were personal and emotional issues, nothing, and not applying oneself (Figure 7). A cross tab showed that about the same amount of students (79.17%) sleeping 4.00 to 6.99 hours had a decent GPA (3.0-4.0) as students (81.25%) sleeping 7.00-8.99 (a healthy amount) hours of sleep per night. Figure 7: Factors Affecting GPAN=52Conclusion and Recommendations: This study did not find a clear relationship between sleep and GPA. The results show that there are many other factors that seem to be affecting GPA more than lack of sleep (32.69%), such as not studying (50%), difficulty of material (50%), and distractions such as cell phones, TV, video games or Netflix (48.08%). This study would have had different results with more respondents. In addition, more of a variety would be helpful as well as most of the students who completed this survey were freshmen who probably do not know their current GPA. Appendix A: Dear Students,My name is Tanel Baehr, and I am a senior majoring in Community Health and Gerontology. For my Senior Seminar research study, I am looking at the relationship between Sleep and Grade Point Averages (GPAs). I would really appreciate it if you filled out this brief questionnaire. It should only take about 5 minutes of your time.Your specific responses will be kept confidential at all times and will be combined with others’ responses for analysis. Your completion of this survey implies your consent to be a part of this research study. Please email Tanel.Baehr@ or Vicki.Boye@cune.edu if you have any questions or concerns. The link below will take you to the online questionnaire. Thank you so much for your time and willingness to participate!Tanel BaehrLink to online questionnaire: B: This questionnaire examines the relationship between Sleep and Grade Point Averages (GPA). Thank you for your willingness to participate!1.?What is your gender?MaleFemale2.?What is your classification?FreshmanSophomoreJuniorSenior or Super Senior3.?Where do you live?On CampusOff Campus4.?On average, how many hours of sleep do you get per night during the week (Sunday-Thursday)?0-3.99 Hours4.00-6.99 Hours7.00-8.99 Hours9.00 or more Hours5.?On average, how many hours of sleep do you get per night during the weekend (Friday-Saturday)?0-3.99 Hours4.00-6.99 Hours7.00-8.99 Hours9.00 or more Hours6.?What do you think is affecting the amount of sleep that you get? (Check all that apply)HomeworkStressJobExtra-curricular activitiesDistractions (cell phone, TV, video games, Netflix, etc.)Social life7.?What do you think is affecting the quality of sleep that you get? (Check all that apply)MedicationsStressSleep DisorderNoiseNothingOther (please specify)8.?What is your overall Grade Point Average (GPA)?3.0-4.02.0-2.99Less than 2.09.?What do you think is affecting your overall Grade Point Average (GPA)? (Check all that apply)JobLack of sleepDifficulty of materialNot completing homeworkNot studyingExtra-curricular activitiesDistractions (cell phone, TV, video games, Netflix, etc.)Social lifeOther (please specify)Thank you for completing this questionnaire!ReferencesChiang, Y., Arendt, S. W., Zheng, T., & Hanisch, K. A. (2014). The Effects of Sleep on Academic Performance and Job Performance. College Student Journal, 48(1). 72-87.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.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).Taylor, D. J., Clay, K. C., Bramoweth, A. D. Sethi, K., & Roane, B. M. (2011). Circadian Phase Preference in College Students: Relationships With Psychological Functioning and Academics. Chronobiology International: The Journal Of Biological & Medical Rhythm Research, 28(6). ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download