ADVERTISEMENT

Can Less Sleep Lead to Bad Grades? Here's What New Study Says

First-year college students who participated in the study slept for around 6.5 hours each night.

Published
Fit
2 min read
Can Less Sleep Lead to Bad Grades? Here's What New Study Says
i

The Quint DAILY

For impactful stories you just can’t miss

By subscribing you agree to our Privacy Policy

College students who get less sleep on a daily basis are more likely to get bad grades, says a new study.

The Big Point: The study conducted on first-year college students in the United States, titled Nightly Sleep Duration Predicts Grade Point Average in the First Year of College, published in the PNAS journal stated:

“Lower average nightly sleep early in the academic term predicted lower end-of-term GPA. Every hour of lost total average nightly sleep was associated with a 0.07 reduction in end-of-term GPA.”
ADVERTISEMENT

Night Owls: J David Creswell, Psychology Professor at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University and author of this study, told USNews that the first-year college students who participated in the study slept for around 6.5 hours each night, as opposed to the recommended sleep of 7 hours or more for people in their age group.

Sleeping Patterns: The study published on 13 February, added that the students clocked 6 hours and 29 minutes of sleep each night, with the duration going up to 6 hours and 58 minutes during the weekends. Here are some key patterns that the study found:

  • Average time to go to sleep: 2:01 am

  • Average time to wake up: 9:17 am

“Sensitivity analyses using sleep thresholds also indicated that sleeping less than 6 h each night was a period where sleep shifted from helpful to harmful for end-of-term GPA, relative to previous-term GPA.”
ADVERTISEMENT

Too Much To Do, Too Little Time: The study authors found that for first-year kids who’ve just entered college, there’s pressure to do everything and more – hang out with friends, go to parties, enroll in clubs, study well, and even intern at places – which is what might to fewer hours of sleep for them.

Try This:

  • Maintain a routine where you try and go to sleep around the same time each night

  • Avoid coffee around your bedtime

  • Don’t use your phone when you’re in bed trying to sleep

(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)

Read and Breaking News at the Quint, browse for more from fit

Topics:  Study   Sleep   College 

ADVERTISEMENT
Speaking truth to power requires allies like you.
Become a Member
3 months
12 months
12 months
Check Member Benefits
Read More
ADVERTISEMENT
Stay Updated

Subscribe To Our Daily Newsletter And Get News Delivered Straight To Your Inbox.

Join over 120,000 subscribers!
ADVERTISEMENT
More News
×
×