Draft 2: Does Sleep Affect Your Quality of Life?

This topic submitted by Maggie Cowgill, Manda Romine, Sarah Arnason, John Kohl (romineam@muohio.edu) at 12:08 am on 10/25/01. Additions were last made on Friday, April 19, 2002. Section: Dorsey

Introduction:

When our lab group first met to discuss our student generated lab we ignored the topic at hand and discussed our weekend experiences instead. The more we traded stories early that Tuesday morning about staying out late and the amount of fun we had (or lack there of), the more we began to realize what we all had in common; we were tired. After agreeing that we were most interested in getting sleep and having fun, we based our student generated lab on a desire to determine the effect of sleep deprivation on a typical college student’s overall college experience. We plan to survey the student body at Miami to determine how late night social activities affect the students’ overall enjoyment of their college experience. For this study, it is important to recognize we are assuming that some students will consistently be socially active later at night than other students. We believe results will show that sleep deprivation does have an effect on the amount of fun and quality of life students believe they have. According to studies we have read, getting an adequate amount of sleep is a factor that affects both physical and mental health. “Consequences of (sleep deprivation) include reduced productivity, serious morbidity, increased mortality, and decreased quality of life.” (Swanson, Sleep Disorders Sourcebook, 1999). Therefore, contrary to popular college beliefs, staying out late can actually hinder how much a student enjoys their college life. We are all very interested to see what our results show about the relevance of sleep on the overall experience of a typical college student.

Materials and Methods:

To properly assess our data we have decided to survey 75 students at each of three different dinning hall locations (Shriver Center, Erickson, and Alexander) giving us a total of 250 surveys. We know that students regularly eat at the same places which is why we feel it necessary to survey three dinning halls that are spread throughout campus. Knowing that midterms and finals put restraints on most students social lives, we plan on surveying students over a week after midterms and more than two weeks before finals. Also, we will ask students to generalize their answers in case we catch them out of their normal routine. All surveys will be completely anonymous to keep in accordance with Miami’s rules about using human subjects. Our survey is reasonably short, and can be filled out within 10 minutes so we can collect surveys at they same time we distribute them. After surveying the designated number of students we can create graphs and charts to organize our data and determine any significant patterns or profiles.

Past Research’s Relevance to Our Work:

A recent study at Stanford University shows that college students, and adolescence in general, aren’t getting enough sleep, causing serious implications (http://www.stanford.edu/~dement/sleepless.html). Most Americans need somewhere between 7 to 10 hours of sleep. As much as we believe we can train ourselves to go with less sleep we cannot because genetics control how much sleep each individual needs (Morelli, Web MD Medical News). Adolescence, on average require even more sleep, and contrary to the “eight hours a night” myth about sleeping, “the average sleep requirement for college students is well over eight hours… If this amount is not obtained, a sleep debt is created.” (http://www.stanford.edu/~dement/sleepless.html). Amplifying students’ problems with getting enough sleep are their late bedtimes. Although adults press for young people to simply go to bed earlier, they really can’t help their desire to stay up later. Research has shown that teens’ and young adults’ biological clocks actually urge them to stay up later. And as we all know, students must get up reasonably early in the morning to go to class, allowing them little time to sleep when coupled with their natural desire to be awake later at night (Swanson, Sleep Disorders Sourcebook, 1999). Other factors that negatively effect sleeping ability are: alcohol, caffeine, stress, scholastic ambition, irregular sleeping patterns, and using the bed for things other than sleep (Swanson, Sleep Disorders Sourcebook, 1999). College students seem to be at even higher risks for the above listed sleep distracters.

What does not getting enough sleep mean? Obviously, not getting enough sleep makes a person tired; however, the consequences of sleep deprivation are far worse than simply feeling tired.
“Lack of adequate sleep slows reaction time, causes lapses in attention, and exacerbates emotional and behavioral problems.”
(http://www.meddean.luc.edu/lumen/DeptWebs/brnshock/teen-sleep.html)

“(College students) are at risk for a number of serious consequences, including poor performance at school, increased incidence of automobile accidents, increased moodiness, and increased use of stimulants and alcohol.” (http://www.meddean.luc.edu/lumen/DeptWebs/brnshock/teen-sleep.html

“Consequences of sleep disorders include reduced productivity, serious morbidity, increased mortality, and decreased quality of life.”
(Swanson, Sleep Disorders Sourcebook, 1999)

“According to several studies, individuals who report sleeping six hours or less a night experienced poorer health than those sleeping seven to eight hours a night.”
(Swanson, Sleep Disorders Sourcebook, 1999)

“Follow up research showed sleep deprivation was directly connected to scholastic performance.”
(Bettelheim, Sleep Deprivation, CQ Researcher, 1998, p 557)

Just by looking at a few examples of the many we found doing research, perhaps the better questions is, what does sleep deprivation not effect?

In our survey we included several questions taken from a sleep deprivation survey designed to determine if a person suffers from sleep deprivation. This way we will actually know if the people we have surveyed are suffering from sleep deprivation. Using this knowledge we will be able to understand if the person taking our survey realizes their sleeping condition. That information, coupled with their answers about happiness and quality of life will not only tell us the answer to our hypothesis, but also if students believe it is worth it to sacrifice their well being in the name of fun.

Here is a copy of our survey:

How Does Sleep Affect Your Quality of Life?

Do not write your name or room number anywhere on this page!

Please fill out all questions honestly. If you have any questions you can contact us at 9-6566, leave a message for Maggie, or 9-6533, leave a message for Manda.
Thank you for your time.

1.) Male /Female 2.) Year:

3.) Major: 4.) Number of credit hours:

5.) On average, what time do you go to bed on weeknights?

Weekends?

6.) What time do you get up on weekdays?

Weekends?

7.) How late do you stay out on weeknights?

Weekend nights?

8.) Approximately how many nights a week do you go out?

9.) What are you normally doing on weeknights 1¸ hours before bed?

Weekend nights?

10.) Do you often fall asleep watching TV?
Yes / No

11.) Do you need an alarm clock to get up in the morning?
Yes / No

12.) Do you need to hit your snooze button frequently before you get up in the morning?
Yes / no

13.) Do you feel tired, irritable, or stressed out during the week?
Yes / No

14.) Do you fall asleep during boring lectures or in warm rooms?
Yes / No

15.) Do you feel you are getting enough sleep?
Yes / No

For the following questions please rate your answers on a scale of 1 to 5; 1 being very unsatisfied or very unsuccessful, 5 being very satisfied or very successful.

16.) How well do you enjoy living in a dorm?

1 2 3 4 5

17.) How well do you like your classes?

1 2 3 4 5

18.) How well do you think you are doing in your classes?

1 2 3 4 5

19.) Rate your quality of life.

1 2 3 4 5

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