Poster #90 - Trajectory of Hours of Sleep in College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

• In Event: Poster Session 07

Abstract

Background
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused major disruptions to the daily routine of many college students. As students lived through the uncertainties, changes, and adjustments brought on by the pandemic, their sleep patterns may be interrupted. As sleep is important to health and daily functioning, examining the longitudinal change in the hours of sleep of students and its relationship with their mental health and well-being is critical to understand the impact of the pandemic on students. Drawing on a longitudinal dataset which tracked a sample of university students from a financial need-based scholarship program since September 2020 for 20 months, this study aimed to examine the trajectory of hours of sleep and its association with various mental health and well-being outcomes.

Method
Participants were 217 undergraduate students of a financial need-based scholarship program in a midwestern university. Four waves of data were collected in September 2020 (Wave 1), December 2020 (Wave 2), May 2021 (Wave 3), and May 2022 (Wave 4). At each wave, students were asked to report the average daily hours of sleep in the past two weeks. Depressive symptoms at baseline (Wave 1) and the last wave were measured by the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CESD; Radloff, 1977). Perceived stress and life satisfaction were measured by the 10-item version of Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10; Cohen & Williamson, 1988) and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS; Diener et. al., 1985), respectively. A latent growth curve model was specified to estimate the intercept and slope for the hours of sleep and how these growth factors were associated with depressive symptoms, perceived stress, and life satisfaction at Wave 4. The effects of depressive symptoms at the baseline and gender were adjusted.

Results
The reliability of all the scales were supported (Cronbach alphas: 0.72 – 0.92). Fit statistics of the latent growth curve model indicated an adequate fit, chi-square(18) = 39.58, p < .05, CFI = 0.95, RMSEA = 0.07. The mean hours of sleep at baseline (i.e., the intercept) was 7.05. Over time, the hours of sleep decreased (slope = -0.25, p < 0.05). More sleep at baseline predicted a lower level of depressive symptoms at Wave 4 (β = -0.18, p < 0.05), even after controlling for baseline depressive symptoms. A slower decrease in the hours of sleep was associated with a lower level of both depressive symptoms and perceived stress (βs = -0.30 and -0.21, ps < 0.05) and higher level of life satisfaction (β = 0.32, p < 0.01) at Wave 4.

Conclusion
On average, hours of sleep decreased over time in college students with financial needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. This decreasing trend was negatively associated with their mental health and well-being. As sleep is a malleable, programs targeting healthy sleeping habits could be helpful in protecting and promoting mental health and well-being of students, especially in the contexts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Authors

• Angela Chow, Indiana University - Bloomington
  Presenting Author

• Hsien-Chang Lin, Indiana University-Bloomington

• Shuhan Yuan