Causes of sleep deprivation and its effect on performance of students and their mental

and physical health

Malka Rapps

Capstone PSYC 450

Sleep deprivation can be a cause of poor academic achievement as well as one's mental

and physical health. Although people do not consider this a big contributing factor, research

proves that it has a great effect. When a student gets enough sleep, his grades and health are

significantly greater than one who does not.

Academic Performance

Research was done on Norwegian students under the age of 35 to show the correlation

between sleep patterns and academic performance. In total there were 12,915 participants in this

study. The purpose of this study is to understand the connection between sleep difficulties and

poor academic performance among college students. This article comes to show that when a

student doesn’t have enough sleep it greatly affects their academics. Grades of students who do

not get sufficient amounts of sleep are significantly lower than those who do. When a college

student has a lot on their mind it will cause sleep disturbances. This can have a long term effect

on their occupation, social and emotional aspects in life. The article helps show college students

how important it is to get enough sleep if they want their grades to stay high (Hayley et al.,

2017).

Another study was done on children over time to prove the effects of normal sleep

patterns. The study uses school age children from the ages of 7-9 and 11-13. The purpose of this

is to understand how insufficient sleep affects children’s academic performance, which can also

affect their mental health. After assessing these children after the experiment, the results were
Literature Review 2

striking. The children who had a lack of sleep had a significantly lower average than those who

had sufficient sleep. It also concluded that the children with less sleep had poorer mental health.

This article specifically targets school age children. It helps strengthen the claim that adequate

sleep brings 4 higher grades as well as mental health. When teachers and parents of children this

age read this study, they will have a better understanding of the importance of sleep (Stormark et

al., 2019).

This last study was held at Debre Berhan University, among nine colleges. 388 students

decided to be a part of the experiment. The objective of this was to assess insomnia, and its

association to academic performance. This study also emphasizes how sleep can reflect on one's

mental health. The results of this study were that 3 out of 5 students suffered from insomnia.

This brought down their GPA significantly. It also shows the connection between lack of sleep

and poor mental health. The researchers in the study hope that after reading this, teachers will

enforce programs and ways to ensure their students gain sufficient amounts of sleep. The

experiment comes to show how insomnia will lead to lower success rates which brings down

one's overall health (Haile, Alemu, Habtewold, 2017).

Mental Health

Research is proving the cause and effects of sleep deprivation on college students’ mental

health. This article being discussed focuses specifically on students going for their undergrad.

There were 183 participants that were given questionnaires, using a non probability convenience

sample. The outcome was that sleep deprivation can be directly resulted in lower grades, drastic
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mood swings, as well as a bigger risk of the usage of alcohol and drugs. This article emphasizes

how sleep can be crucial to one's studies, as well as their mental stability. It was specifically

targeting college students going for their undergraduate. This journal will help prove to students,

professors, and parents how important a sufficient amount of sleep will help be successful in life

(Khemka et al., 2020).

The next study that was done was on 250 female students studying medical sciences in

the University of Medical Sciences in Shahid Sadoughi. These students took a sleep, anxiety and

depression test. The purpose of this was to understand if there was a relationship between sleep

and mental health. The results proved the significant impact sleep has on the ability to function,

specifically in areas of depression and anxiety. These two factors have a direct relation to how

well the students performed in school. Poor sleep and poor mental health were proven to impact

each other retroactively. The study expanded the effects of quality sleep to more areas of

academics. This particularly studied the success in the subject of science. After seeing this study,

students will want to sleep more so they can have a healthier mindset, and achieve success in all

areas (Farzaneh, Momayyezi, Lotfi, 2018).

Physical Health

The last aspect being discussed is how sleep has an effect on one’s physical health. This

study was done with students from Majmaah University. The purpose was to see the effect of

sleep on medical student’s academic performance and their attention span. The students filled out

a questionnaire asking about sleep quality as well as their overall GPA. The results showed that
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females had an easier time sleeping with academic stresses than males. Having sufficient

amounts of sleep leads to more academic success, which is why the female students performed

better. This study helps reinforce the importance of sleep, and how it correlates to high academic

achievement. It helps show a fuller picture by studying medical students in Saudi Arabia. The

effects of sleep are proven to be effective internationally (Alzahrani et al., 2021).

This next research specifically studies sleep disorders and how lack of sleep can affect

cognitive ability and mental health. The participants in this study were 157 medical

undergraduate students. The objective of this was to test quality of sleep and how it correlates to

obesity as well as academics. The cognitive ability and mental health were directly reflected in

the students’ grades and physical health. This experiment shows the positive correlation between

sleep 5 disorders, obesity, and poor grades. After reading this study, students in medical school

can understand the importance of sleep. These students will realize that by prioritizing sleep they

will have a greater chance of succeeding in college. This study comes to show how important

sleep is among college students, by experimenting on sleep disorders (R. H., D., R., M., & Dorle,

A. S., 2018).

This last study that’s being mentioned was conducted on students going through nursing

school. There were questionnaires sent out, with overwhelming responses of 519 students. The

intention of the study was to measure sleep and its association to lifestyle and quality of life. It

also showed how it was directly connected to academic achievement. The participants were split

up into groups based on their sleeping patterns. There was a group of early risers and a group and
Literature Review 5

a group of people who went to sleep late. The results showed that people who tended to get to

bed later were more likely to gain weight without consuming more food, and had a more

challenging time remaining emotionally stable. The early risers had an overall higher quality of

life and an easier time maintaining a healthy weight. The weight and mental health factor directly

affected the student’s ability to put in effort and succeed in nursing school. This experiment is

bringing out the importance of sleep on quality of life as well as pointing out how early risers

have a major advantage in this. People reading this experiment can hopefully change their sleep

patterns and try to bring out a healthier lifestyle (Kayaba et al., 2021).

Conclusion- Gap of Literature

This study shows that insufficient amounts of sleep affect academic performance in

college students (Hayley et al., 2017) and in school age children (Stormark et al., 2019).

Insomnia is a specific condition of lacking sleep, which can also majorly affect one’s academics

(Haile, Alemu, Habtewold, 2017). Lack of sleep also has a major impact on mental health.

Individuals with less sleep are more prone to using alcohol and drugs (Khemka et al., 2020), and

to suffer from anxiety and depression (Farzaneh, Momayyezi, Lotfi, 2018). Lack of sleep has

been proven to have effects on physical health as well. Indigestion and headaches (Alzahrani et

al., 2021), as well as weight gain (Kayaba et al., 2021) can be prevented with sufficient amounts

of sleep (Alzahrani et al., 2021). Those with a healthy BMI are less likely to get sleep disorders

(R. H., D., R., M., & Dorle, A. S., 2018). This research shows that sleep has a great impact on

one's physical and mental health, as well as their academic performance. However, in this

literature it has not mentioned a student’s sleep patterns and its effect on their personal

relationships.
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Research Question

How do college students' sleep patterns affect their relationships with their peers?
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References

Khemka, P., Dhanuka, P., Bhutta, R., Narang, R., & Jakharia, R. (2020). Causes of sleep

deprivation and its effect on performance of students and their mental health. Indian

Journal of Health & Wellbeing, 11(7–9), 437–442

Hayley, A. C., Sivertsen, B., Hysing, M., Vedaa, Ø., & Øverland, S. (2017). Sleep difficulties and

academic performance in Norwegian higher education students. British Journal of

Educational Psychology, 87(4), 722–737. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12180

Stormark, K. M., Fosse, H. E., Pallesen, S., & Hysing, M. (2019). The association between sleep

problems and academic performance in primary school-aged children: Findings from a

Norwegian longitudinal population-based study. PLoS ONE, 14(11).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0224139

Alzahrani, M. K., Ahmed, S. M., Sami, W., Al-jubairi, N. N., Almutairi, A. A., & Alqhatani, A.

M. (2021). Prevalence of Sleep Pattern and its Effect on Health among Medical Students

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ong-medical-students-in-majmaah-saudi-arabia-7821.html

R. H., D., R., M., & Dorle, A. S. (2018). Prevalence of sleep disorders and its association with

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https://medicainnovatica.org/medjan2019/9.%20Article%205.pdf

Farzaneh, F., Momayyezi, M., & Lotfi, M. H. (2018). Relationship between quality of sleep and

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Haile, Y. G., Alemu, S. M., & Habtewold, T. D. (2017). Insomnia and Its Temporal Association

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Kayaba, M., Matsushita, T., Katayama, N., Inoue, Y., & Sasai-Sakuma, T. (2021). Sleep–wake

rhythm and its association with lifestyle, health-related quality of life and academic

performance among Japanese nursing students: a cross-sectional study. BMC Nursing,

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