Elsevier

Behavior Therapy

Volume 45, Issue 6, November 2014, Pages 806-816
Behavior Therapy

Associations Between Sleep Hygiene and Insomnia Severity in College Students: Cross-Sectional and Prospective Analyses

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2014.05.002Get rights and content

Highlights

  • We examine sleep hygiene and insomnia severity in college students

  • Students perform poor sleep scheduling and bedroom behaviors about 3 times per week

  • Poor sleep scheduling is associated with insomnia after controlling for established risk factors

  • Poor sleep scheduling predicts a change in insomnia at a 2-month follow-up

Abstract

Although a small number of studies characterized cross-sectional associations between sleep hygiene and insomnia severity, no prior study has examined their relationships prospectively. Further, the relationship between sleep hygiene and insomnia severity among college students has rarely been examined. This study examined the prevalence of diverse sleep hygiene behaviors and their associations with insomnia severity in two independent samples of college students from a cross-sectional (N = 548; mean age = 19; 59% female; 71% White) and a two-wave short-term prospective (N = 157; mean age = 19; 71% female; 76% White) study. A total of 12% to 13% of students reported clinically significant insomnia. On average, students reported frequent engagement in inconsistent sleep-wake schedules and lounging and worrying/thinking about important matters in the bed. Improper sleep scheduling, behaviors that promote arousal near bedtime, and uncomfortable sleeping environments were positively associated with cross-sectional insomnia severity. After controlling for other well-established risk factors, only improper sleep scheduling remained significant. Prospectively, baseline improper sleep scheduling predicted insomnia severity at a 2-month follow-up after controlling for baseline insomnia severity and other well-established risk factors. Together, findings suggest a potential unique role of improper sleep scheduling in insomnia among college students.

Section snippets

Participants and Procedures

All participants were recruited from undergraduate students enrolled in the introductory psychology course at a private university in the northeastern United States. Online surveys were completed by the participants at a time and place of their own choosing and they received partial course credit for completing the study. Participants were required to be 18 years or older to enroll. Electronic informed consent was obtained from each participant and all study measures and procedures were reviewed

Descriptive Analyses

As shown in Table 1, on average, both samples of college students showed subclinical levels of insomnia severity (Study 1 M = 8.67 [SD = 4.88]; Study 2 Time 1 M = 8.66 [SD = 5.36]; Study 2 Time 2 M = 7.50 [SD = 5.39]). A paired sample t-test showed that students from Study 2 reported on average lower insomnia severity at Time 2 than at Time 1, t(156) = 2.88, p = .005, indicating a small decrease in insomnia severity over time (Cohen’s d = .22). In Study 1, 12% (n = 64) of students met criteria for clinical insomnia,

Discussion

The present study examined the prevalence of a wide range of SH behaviors and their relationships with insomnia severity both cross-sectionally and prospectively in two independent samples of college students. To our best knowledge, this is the first study that documented prevalence of a full list of SH behaviors (as opposed to an aggregated SH score) and their association with insomnia severity in this population. SH behaviors found to be relatively common (> 3 days per week) in our two samples

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

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