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Differences in sleep habits, study time, and academic performance between US-born and foreign-born college students

  • Epidemiology • Original Article
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Abstract

Purpose

To inform the design of a sleep improvement program for college students, we assessed academic performance, sleep habits, study hours, and extracurricular time, hypothesizing that there would be differences between US-born and foreign-born students.

Methods

Questionnaires queried participants on bedtimes, wake times, nap frequency, differences in weekday and weekend sleep habits, study hours, grade point average, time spent at paid employment, and other extracurricular activities. Comparisons were made using chi square tests for categorical data and t tests for continuous data between US-born and foreign-born students.

Results

Of 120 participants (55 % women) with racial diversity (49 whites, 18 blacks, 26 Hispanics, 14 Asians, and 13 other), 49 (41 %) were foreign-born. Comparisons between US-born and foreign-born students showed no differences in average age or gender though US-born had more whites. There were no differences between US-born and foreign-born students for grade point averages, weekday bedtimes, wake times, or total sleep times. However, US-born students averaged 50 min less study time per day (p = 0.01), had almost 9 h less paid employment per week (14.5 vs 23.4 h per week, p = 0.001), and stayed up to socialize more frequently (63 vs 43 %, p = 0.03). Foreign-born students awakened an hour earlier and averaged 40 min less sleep per night on weekends.

Conclusions

Cultural differences among college students have a profound effect on sleep habits, study hours, and extracurricular time. The design of a sleep improvement program targeting a population with diverse cultural backgrounds must factor in such behavioral variations in order to have relevance and impact.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Montgomery Scholars Program, Montgomery College, 51 Mannakee Street, Rockville, MD, 20850, USA

    Arne H. Eliasson

  2. Department of Medicine, Uniformed Services of the Health Sciences, 4301 Jones Bridge Road, Bethesda, MD, 20814, USA

    Arn H. Eliasson & Christopher J. Lettieri

  3. 12515 Davan Drive, Silver Spring, MD, 20904, USA

    Arn H. Eliasson

Authors
  1. Arne H. Eliasson
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  2. Arn H. Eliasson
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  3. Christopher J. Lettieri
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Correspondence to Arn H. Eliasson.

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No funding was received for this research.

Conflict of interest

All authors certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest (such as honoraria; educational grants; participation in speakers’ bureaus; membership, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, or other equity interest; and expert testimony or patent-licensing arrangements), or non-financial interest (such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge or beliefs) in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was waived for this study by the Institutional Review Board due to the parameters of the study design.

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Eliasson, A.H., Eliasson, A.H. & Lettieri, C.J. Differences in sleep habits, study time, and academic performance between US-born and foreign-born college students. Sleep Breath 21, 529–533 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-016-1412-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-016-1412-2

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