Sleep, the Never-ending Quest of College Students: Effects of a Semester Long Sleep Course on Sleep Patterns and Daytime Functioning
Trial Snapshot
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Status
- Completed
- Sponsor
- University of Houston
- Enrollment
- 146
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- National Sleep Foundation Sleep Diary
Study Overview
Brief Summary
The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether undergraduate students completing a course focused entirely on sleep at a major urban university evidence positive changes in their sleep patterns compared to students completing a similar-level course (without any discussion of sleep) in the same department (Psychology) at the same university (UH). Potential changes in sleep patterns across the semester will be examined as well as whether putative changes in sleep can be linked with academic and mental health outcomes.
Detailed Description
Aim 1) To evaluate whether a semester long course focused entirely on sleep produces improvements in college students' sleep patterns across the semester based on one-week sleep diaries.
H1: Compared to students enrolled in other courses who are not expected to show significant changes in sleep patterns, students enrolled in the sleep course will demonstrate increases in total sleep time, decreases in sleep onset latency, and decreases in nighttime awakenings. In line with Mayer's theoretical model, these sleep-based changes will evidence non-linear (i.e., quadractic) patterns across four time points during the semester.
Aim 2) To evaluate changes in sleep hygiene behaviors across the semester among students enrolled in a sleep course compared to students enrolled in other courses.
H2: Compared to students enrolled in other courses who are not expected to show significant changes in sleep hygiene behaviors, students enrolled in the sleep course will report a decreased frequency of naps, use of electronics within one hour of bed, and an increase in sleep regularity (e.g., reduction in the discrepancy between weekend and weekday wake times) across the four time points during the semester.
Aim 3) To evaluate how sleep patterns relate to daytime mood and energy levels across the semester among students enrolled in a sleep course and other courses.
Study Design
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Intervention Model
- Parallel
- Primary Purpose
- Health Services Research
- Masking
- None
Eligibility Criteria
- Ages
- 18 Years to — (Adult, Older Adult)
- Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria
- •All undergraduate students at UH age 18 and older who are enrolled in the following upper-level courses and who provide consent to participate will be eligible to participate as control participants
Exclusion Criteria
- •Previous enrollment in PSYC 4397: The Behavior of Sleep course or a similar course.
Arms & Interventions
Behavior of Sleep Course
A semester-long course focused on sleep improves college students' sleep patterns over one semester. The listed aims of this course are to: 1) provide students with a comprehensive understanding of sleep; 2) afford an overview of the multiple ways sleep impact health, performance and well-being; and 3) to assist students in discovering how their own sleep-wake patterns impact their day to day functioning.
Intervention: Behavior of Sleep Course (Behavioral)
Control
Students from other upper level departmental courses with content that does not include a focus on or discussion of sleep
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
National Sleep Foundation Sleep Diary
Time Frame: 7 days
The National Sleep Foundation Sleep Diary is a self-report diary designed to help participants track their sleep, sleep habits, and other relevant sleep behaviors (e.g., caffeine use) over a seven-day period.
Secondary Outcomes
No secondary outcomes reported
Investigators
Simon Lau
Clinical Psychology Doctoral Candidate
University of Houston