Shah 1

Virgil Shah
Engl 1102-HP4, Weaver
Project 3
November 25, 2014
Vshah61@gatech.edu
For my research project, I chose to investigate how college students poor sleep habits
impact their academic performance. I researched about the causes of poor sleep habits, the
effects of poor sleep habits, and solutions to the issue of poor sleep habits among college
students; through my research I learned about how this significant issue doesnt receive the
attention that it needs.
The reason I chose this research topic is because I saw how poor sleep habits affected my
peers academic performances, and I personally experienced the effects of poor sleep habits on
my academic performance. I also realized that colleges, especially Georgia Tech, didnt really
address this issue as a significant problem, even though most students struggle with poor sleep
habits on a daily basis. At first I wanted to study the effects of sleep deprivation on the health of
college students, but I realized that this research topic was too broad because sleep deprivation
affects many aspects of health from mental health to physical health. Thus I eventually
narrowed my topic down to the effects of sleep deprivation on academic performance; however
from my research I found that sleep deprivation isnt the only culprit in this issue. I learned that
sleep quality could be just as, if not even more important, than sleep duration. Sleep quality
entails having a regular sleep-wake cycle, having a quiet sleep environment, and not doing

Shah 2

anything stimulating before sleeping. Therefore I set out to investigate the effects of sleep habits
of college students on their academic performance.
I learned very quickly that poor sleep habits are an endemic issue in American society, so
I was curious as to whether sleep habits in college students are just as bad as they are in the rest
of society. What I found was that college students actually have significantly worse sleep habits
than most population groups in American society. College students have worse sleep habits than
high schoolers, age-matched adults, and older adults. What about going to college made college
students have such poor sleep quality? What I learned was that college students schedules,
workloads, physiology, use of drugs and stimulants, and use of technology before bedtime all
contributed to this issue. The college environment was the convergence of all these
aforementioned factors, and this caused the sleeping habits of college students to suffer.
In researching the scientific aspect of poor sleep habits and their effects on academic
performance, I found many scientific journals and articles online. I also interviewed Dr. Shannon
Croft, MD; Dr. Paul Verhaeghen, PhD; and Dr. Randall Engle, PhD. Dr. Shannon Croft is a
psychiatrist at Georgia Tech that works at Stamps Health Center. It was only after interviewing
Dr. Croft that I realized how much of an impact poor sleep quality has on academic performance
he was the individual who emphasized to me that sleep deprivation is only a subset of the
actual issue of poor sleep quality. Dr. Paul Verhaeghen is a professor of psychology at Georgia
Tech, and although he didnt do any research pertaining to sleep quality, he does extensive
research on the brain. From his interview, I learned about REM sleep and NREM sleep, and how
disruption of these sleep phases can impair memory consolidation. Finally, Dr. Randall Engle is
also a professor of psychology at Georgia Tech, and Dr. Engle has actually done a few studies on
the effects of sleep deprivation. He talked to me about his studies with sleep deprived Air Force

Shah 3

pilots and sleep deprived students. What I learned was that sleep deprivation affects both
performance and ability to learn. The information I learned from these interviews gave me a
good starting point to research more in depth about the effects of poor sleep quality on academic
performance.
When I was finished with my scientific research regarding my topic, I wanted to learn
more about the historical aspect of this issue and how it connects to Georgia Tech. I talked to the
founding director of Georgia Techs Living History Program, Marilyn Somers. Ms. Somers told
me how sleep habits have changed throughout different generations.
Finally, I researched about possible solutions to this issue. I found that it is difficult to fix
this issue because the issue is really a consequence of the casual factors like high workload,
physiology, etc. Thus in order to find a solution, colleges need to address these underlying issues.
This project was very enlightening: through researching this project I learned not only
about the scientific aspects of the issue of poor sleep quality but also the history behind why poor
sleep quality is endemic in college society. I hope that the documentary video that I have
produced will force students to rethink their sleeping habits, and hopeful will give college
administrators and faculty a better perspective as to some factors regarding this widespread issue
so that they may work toward helping students achieve good sleep habits.

The Effects of Poor Sleep Habits on College Students Academic Performance

Sleep is an essential part of our everyday lives we spend about one third of our lives
sleeping (Sleep, sleep disorders 2003); however few individuals, especially college students,
exercise good sleep habits, which encompass sleeping about eight hours every night and

Shah 4

practicing good sleep hygiene having a regular sleep-wake schedule, quiet sleep environment,
and avoidance of caffeine after lunch and stimulating activities before bed (Hershner &
Chervin, 2014). Due to college students schedules, workloads, physiology, use of drugs and
stimulants, and use of technology before bedtime, college students are at a greater risk of having
poor sleep quality and inadequate sleep duration, both which are linked to impaired cognitive
functioning, memory consolidation, abstract thinking, daytime alertness, and thus academic
performance.
The college environment induces a unique confluence of factors that together inhibit
good sleep habits among the college student population: college students need on average eight
hours of sleep every night, but 70.6% of students obtain less than that amount (Hershner &
Chervin, 2014), and only 11% of college students meet the criteria for good sleep quality (Gilbert
& Weaver, 2010). Intensive scholastic schedules greatly contribute to the incidence of sleep
disruption of college students (Rahimian & Ghodrati, 2014). College students are likely to forgo
sleep to complete assignments most college students pull all-nighters or single nights of total
sleep deprivation more than twice a month (Sleep and your brain, 2012). Physiologically,
college students are predisposed to having later bedtimes and rise times (Hershner & Chervin,
2014). From the onset of puberty to about the age of twenty, adolescents exhibit nocturnal
circadian preferences which entail an inclination for delayed bedtimes and wake times (Thacher,
2008). College students inherent nocturnal preferences contribute to their poor sleep habits by
facilitating both inadequate sleep quality due to irregular sleeping schedules, especially between
weekends and weekdays (Gilbert & Weaver, 2010), and insufficient sleep duration because
college schedules are set by adults who have morning circadian preferences (Thacher, 2008).
Poor sleep habits in college students are also exacerbated by consumption of alcohol and

Shah 5

stimulants such as coffee and energy drinks. Four out of five college students regularly drink
alcohol which promotes fragmented sleep (Hershner & Chervin, 2014), and 34% (Hershner &
Chervin) and 39% (Aubrey, 2013) of college aged adults regularly consume energy drinks or
coffee respectively which can decreased REM sleep which is needed for memory consolidation
(Aubrey, 2013) and can shorten sleep duration if consumed in the afternoon (Hershner &
Chervin, 2014). Furthermore, college aged adults heavily use technology before sleep, with 67%
using cell phones and 60% using computers prior to bed which suppresses melatonin secretion,
which regulates the circadian rhythm to the environment, causing sleep disruption (Hershner &
Chervin, 2014). Intensive scholastic schedules, nocturnal circadian preference, caffeine and
alcohol consumption, and use of technology before sleeping not only cause poor sleeping habits,
but the sleeping habits that are developed through these factors put college students at risk for
developing sleep disorders that can further disrupt sleep. For example, intense scholastic
schedules can cause sleep disorders and the intensification of their symptoms (Rahimian &
Ghodrati, 2014) and nocturnal circadian preferences can progress to delayed sleep phase disorder
which could affect up to 17% of the US college population (Hershner & Chervin, 2014). Due to
their sleeping habits, 27% of college students could be at risk for developing at least one sleeping
disorder (Hershner & Chervin, 2014).
Poor sleeping habits have been linked to a variety of negative effects on brain function
which can worsen academic performance in college students. Sleep deprivation causes a
significant decline in performance in cognitive tasks (Hershner & Chervin, 2014), with sleep
deprived individuals scoring lower on cognitive tasks than non-sleep deprived individuals
(Chang, Arendt, Zheng, & Hanisch, 2014). These cognitive deficits that arise due to sleep
deprivation inhibit students ability to learn (Thacher, 2008). Additionally, poor sleep habits

Shah 6

negatively affect students ability to consolidate memory. Memory consolidation requires an

orderly succession of sleep stages REM and NREM sleep: REM sleep has been shown to
improve procedural memory and NREM sleep has been shown to improve declarative memory
(Hershner & Chervin, 2014). Sleep deprivation can limit the amount of REM sleep that students
obtain which impairs learning and memory. Also, alcohol consumption can cause fragmented
sleep which can interfere with succession of sleep stages and high caffeine consumption can
decrease REM sleep, both of which lead to impaired memory consolidation (Hershner &
Chervin, 2014). In cases in which students engage in single nights of total sleep deprivation, or
pull all-nighters, memory performance worsened by 19%, and even after two days of postrecovery sleep, students did not show improvement in visual discrimination tasks (Hershner &
Chervin). Impaired cognitive function and memory due to poor sleep habits contribute to why
poor sleep habits are linked to lower academic performance: both poor sleep quality (Gilbert &
Weaver, 2010) and sleep loss are negatively correlated with academic performance (Chang et al.,
2014). Relating the effects of impaired cognitive function and memory on students academic
performance can be quantified using GPA as a metric. For example, students who are short
sleepers, those obtaining an average of less than six hours of sleep per night, have on mean GPAs
0.5 points lower than that of long sleepers, those obtaining an average of more than nine hours of
sleep per night (Hershner & Chervin, 2014), and students that frequently pull all-nighters have
lower GPAs than those that do not (Thacher, 2008).
Because the negative effects of poor sleep habits are so dramatic, it is important to
understand whether poor sleep habits are exclusive to college students or whether poor sleep
habits are widespread among all populations. As it turns out, although inadequate sleep habits are
endemic in American society across all population groups (Gilbert & Weaver, 2010), sleep habits

Shah 7

among college students are especially poor. Compared to the general population, college students
report twice as many sleep difficulties and have twice the prevalence of delayed sleep phase
syndrome (Gilbert & Weaver, 2010). When comparing college students to age-matched adults,
50% of college students exhibit daytime sleepiness compared to 36% of adolescents and adults
(Hershner & Chervin, 2014) and college students have later bedtimes and wake times than nonstudent adults (Suen, Ellis, & Tam, 2008). College students also exhibit later bedtimes than high
school students (Hershner & Chervin, 2014). Thus, although poor sleep habits in other
populations should not be condoned, it is important to address poor sleep habits among college
students because of how much more prevalent the issue is among this population. Furthermore,
historic trends show that sleep habits among college students continue to decline with a one hour
reduction in median sleep duration over the last three decades (Suen et al., 2008).
The unfortunate reality behind poor sleep habits is that knowledge of proper sleep habits
is only weakly associated with practicing proper sleep habits (Hershner & Chervin, 2014), and
students may not change their sleeping habits because they dont realize how much of an effect
poor sleep habits have on their cognition. Sleep deprived students may perceive having better
concentration and effort even when they perform worse, which can contribute to why it is
difficult to alter students sleep behaviors (Hershner & Chervin, 2014). Universities have
attempted to implement pilot sleep education programs to curb poor sleep habits, but these can
be expensive and often ineffective (Hershner & Chervin, 2014). Thus, preventing poor sleep
habits among college students might only be accomplished through solving other underlying
issues. Colleges can lessen students workloads because intensive scholastic schedules are
correlated to sleep disruption (Rahimian & Ghodrati, 2014), and students are twice as likely to
pull all-nighters for academic reasons than social reasons (Thacher, 2008). Because of

Shah 8

adolescents nocturnal circadian preferences of later bedtimes and wake times, colleges can
schedule classes to start later in the day to prevent irregular sleep schedules and inadequate sleep
duration during weekdays (Thacher, 2008). Colleges can also attempt to curb caffeine use among
students by addressing aggressive marketing techniques of energy drink companies, like Red
Bull or Monster Energy Drinks, among college campuses which have Student Brand Managers
(Student brand managers, n.d.) and Student Ambassadors (Jobs/Monster, n.d.) that promote
energy drinks on college campuses. Finally, colleges should increase awareness and outreach for
sleep disorders.
College is meant to be a place of self-discovery, where students find their passions and
interests and prepare themselves to transition to a more independent and exciting part of their
lives. But, this is all undermined by students especially poor sleep habits and how these affect
their academic performance. Lower GPAs make finding opportunities like internships,
scholarships, and jobs difficult, but more importantly when students have an impaired ability to
learn, their time in college no longer is a period of enlightenment but rather a constant struggle to
keep up with unrelenting obligations and responsibilities. To make matters worse, poor sleep
habits are also linked to depression (Suen et al., 2008), negative mood (Gilbert & Weaver, 2010),
decline in immune function (Rahimian & Ghodrati, 2014), and can even be a factor for
Alzheimers disease (Chiang et al., 2014). Therefore, college campuses around the globe not
only need to be aware of the issues that surround poor sleep habits of their students, but college
administrators, faculty, and students themselves need to take steps to find a solution to this
rampant issue.

Shah 9

Works Cited (APA):

Aubrey, A. (2013). Young adults swapping soda for the super buzz of coffee. Retrieved
November 20, 2014, from
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/01/14/169161207/young-adults-swapping-sodafor-the-super-buzz-of-coffee
Chiang, 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.
Gilbert, S. P., & Weaver, C. C. (2010). Sleep quality and academic performance in university
students: a wake-up call for college psychologists. Journal Of College Student
Psychotherapy, 24(4), 295-306. doi:10.1080/87568225.2010.509245
Hershner, S. D., & Chervin, R. D. (2014). Causes and consequences of sleepiness among college
students. Nature & Science Of Sleep, 673-84. doi:10.2147/NSS.S62907Univ
Rahimian Boogar, I., & Ghodrati Mirkouhi, M. (2014). An investigation of factors influencing
disrupted sleep in university students. Journal Of Jahrom University Of Medical
Sciences, 11(4), 23-32.

Shah 10

Sleep and your brain. (2012). Retrieved November 20, 2014, from
http://studentsuccess.utk.edu/support/tips/docs/Sleep&YourBrain.pdf
Suen, L. P., Ellis Hon, L., & Tam, W. S. (2008). Association between sleep behavior and sleeprelated factors among university students in Hong Kong. Chronobiology International:
The Journal Of Biological & Medical Rhythm Research, 25(5), 760-775.
doi:10.1080/07420520802397186
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