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Sleep Deprivation Ups Mental Health Risk in College Kids

— Dose-response relationship not accounted for by insomnia and/or depressed mood alone

MedpageToday

SAN ANTONIO -- College students who didn't get enough sleep had more depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues, a researcher reported here.

In adjusted models, a dose-response relationship was seen between lack of sleep and all mental health variables examined in an analysis of data from the (NCHA), according to Thea Ramsey, a research assistant at the UA Sleep & Health Research Program at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

Student athletes got more sleep overall in the study, and they had better overall mental health than non-athletes, but the relationship between insufficient sleep and mental health issues was found to be similar between student athletes and non-athletes, Ramsey and colleagues reported at SLEEP 2019, the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS).

The analysis included data from 110,496 college students surveyed in the 2011-2014 waves of the NCHA, including 8,462 varsity athletes.

As part of the survey, the students were asked to approximate the number of nights they did not "get enough sleep so that you felt rested when you woke up," coded as 0-7.

They were also asked to estimate the number of days within the past month when they had feelings of hopelessness or felt overwhelmed, exhaustion, loneliness, sadness/depressed mood, difficulty functioning, anxiety, anger, desire to self-harm, or suicide ideation.

In the analysis, covariates included age, sex, race/ethnicity, and survey year. Logistic regression modelling was used to examine the complete sample and interaction terms for sleep-x-athlete status.

In adjusted models, students who reported insufficient sleep also reported a greater prevalence of all mental health variables.

In analysis examining linear trends, greater insufficient sleep prevalence was associated with (P<0.0005 for all):

  • Greater likelihood of hopelessness: OR 1.24
  • Feeling overwhelmed: OR 1.23
  • Exhaustion: OR 1.29
  • Loneliness: OR 1.19
  • Depressed mood: OR 1.21
  • Functional problems: OR 1.28
  • Anxiety: OR 1.25
  • Anger: OR 1.24
  • Desire to self-harm: OR 1.25
  • Suicide ideation: OR 1.28

Co-author Michael Grander, PhD, director of the UA Behavioral Sleep Medicine Clinic, said insufficient sleep, which is epidemic among college students, is a well known risk factor for worse academic performance and overall health.

"The fact that sleep health was so strongly related to mental health is important since the majority of college students don't get the recommended amount of sleep needed for optimal health and functioning," he said in a press statement.

Disclosures

The study was supported by an NCAA Innovations Grant.

Primary Source

SLEEP 2019

Ramsey T, et al "Dose-response relationship between insufficient sleep and mental health symptoms in collegiate student athletes and non-athletes" SLEEP 2019; Abstact 0901.