Effect of Sleep Quality on Academic Performance

Abstract

Previous studies have examined the relationship between sleep and academic performance. This study examines how the quality and quantity of sleep is essential to learning and affects academic performance. Over a period of 6 weeks, a 27-year-old female nursing student reported how many hours of sleep she had on 10 nights before test dates. She also rated the quality of each night’s sleep on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the best. The grades were then examined to measured to assess the student’s academic performance. A positive correlation was found between her grades and the quality of sleep she received on the previous night. On average, her grades tended to be higher on nights when she slept for more than 6 hours. These findings indicate that increased quality of sleep has a positive correlation with academic performance. Although her grades reflect that the positive correlation between the quality and quantity of sleep and academic performance is not entirely consistent, the quality of sleep was significantly higher on average when she slept more hours per night.

Effect of Sleep Quality on Academic Performance

Sleep, or lack thereof, affects the body and is a crucial determinant of one’s health, especially in terms of one’s cognitive functionality and academic performance. Sleep deprivation negatively affects cognitive abilities because it “impairs attention and working memory, but it also affects other functions, such as long-term memory and decision-making” (Alhola & Polo-Kantola, 2007, pg. 553). Levels of alertness are also hindered by a lack of sleep. Compounded by the challenges of academia, students often sacrifice sleep in order to have more time to study, a behavior that is exemplified by how commonplace it is for students to pull “all-nighters” before exams. The results of a previous study published by the University of Minnesota indicate a significant positive correlation between GPA and the quantity of sleep per night (Lowry, Dean & Manders, 2010, pg. 16). The following study examines the relationship between academic performance and the quantity of sleep while also taking the quality of sleep into account.

Method

Over a period of 6 weeks, the participant reported an hourly total of sleep on 10 individual nights that preceded scheduled test dates. The quality of each night’s sleep was measured by a scale that ranged from 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest possible rating. The participant was asked to rate the quality of sleep she had on these appointed nights in accordance with this rating scale. On the days following these nights, the participant was administered a test to assess her academic performance on a 100-point scale with 100 being the highest possible score. The first 2 weeks at the beginning and end of the study included biweekly tests with the exception of weeks 3, 4 and 5 during which the participant was only asked to report the data from 1 night. The grades were recorded for further examination. She slept an average of 6.75 hours per night with the mode being 7 hours. Her mean score was 92.7.

Participants

This study enlisted 1 participant. The participant is a female student. She is 27 years old and in her final year of schooling to become a nurse. Data is shown in the chart below:

(Chart omitted for preview. Available via download)

Results

The data demonstrate a positive correlation between the quality of sleep and grades. Nights when the participant reported more than 6 hours of sleep tended to have higher quality ratings. Additionally, grades were generally higher on nights when the participant slept a greater amount of hours. However, the inverse appears to be true because on Day 1 of the second week, she slept 6 hours and rated the quality of sleep as 5 but received a 92. On the second day of the second week, she had 5 hours of 3-quality sleep and scored a 97. She received a mean of 90.2 on the nights when she slept for 5 to 6 hours, a grade that is significantly lower than the mean of 95.7 calculated from her grades on nights where she slept over 7 hours.

Implications

It is important to consider that each individual might require different amounts of sleep for optimal cognitive function. Considering that the participant’s average was in what is traditionally considered an A- range, she might be particularly adept at taking tests or simply be above average in terms of memory and general academic success. The participant’s age, diet, physical activity level and gender were also not taken into account when analyzing the data so what constitutes adequate sleep hygiene for her might not necessarily be healthful for older or younger persons of either gender. While study habits are vital to enhancing academic performance, “all-nighters” should be avoided. For the best results, one should also be vigilant about getting the quantity and quality of sleep that optimizes their cognition.

Conclusion

The quality and quantity of sleep influence cognitive functionality. Thus, these findings indicate that increased quality and quantity of sleep have a positive relationship with academic performance. On the nights when the participant reported sleeping more than 6 hours, her grades tended to be higher as demonstrated by the difference between the respective mean scores. The data is consistent with previous research which found “a significant negative correlation between the average number of days per week that students obtained less than five hours of sleep and GPA” (Lowry, Dean & Manders, 2010, pg. 16). Therefore, it is important for students to focus on getting sufficient amounts of sleep in terms of both quantity and quality to increase the likelihood of academic success.

References

Alhola, P., & Polo-Kantola, P. (2007, October 03). Sleep deprivation: Impact on cognitive performance. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2656292/

Lowry, M., Dean, K., & Manders, K. (2010). The link between sleep quantity and academic performance for the college student. Sentience: The University of Minnesota Undergraduate Journal of Psychology, 3(Spring), 16-19. Retrieved from http://www.psych.umn.edu/sentience/files/Lowry_2010.pdf