Prevalence of delayed sleep phase syndrome in university students

Abstract

Prior research has demonstrated a relationship between poor sleep quality with academic and cognitive difficulties. A specific disorder associated with poor academic is Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome (DSPS), a circadian rhythm disorder. With this in mind, the purpose of the study was to explore the prevalence and type of sleep difficulties in college students. According to the results, 11.5% of respondents reported symptoms consistent with DSPS, which is approximately twice as great as the general population. Further, the prevalence of sleep complaints were higher than in prior comparable studies. The authors suggest that the college lifestyle may play a strong role in the development of DSPS and include recommendations that may help universities decrease the prevalence of sleep difficulties. *********** College years tend to be a time when students experience a significant increase in autonomy and responsibilities (Russell, & Petrie, 1992; Kleeman, & Richardson, 1985). Hence, students often rate their first year of college as one of the most stressful events in their lives (Robertson & Famill, 1989). Additionally, Family support and the structure present in earlier years is replaced with a more disorganized lifestyle that includes numerous reasons to disrupt sleep habits (Pilcher, Ginter,& Sadowsky, 1997). Walters and Pilcher (1997) point out that many college students voluntarily deprive themselves of sleep during the week and try to compensate by sleeping long hours on the weekend. Such unstable sleep patterns exacerbate and in some instances may cause symptoms associated with delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS). This is a circadian rhythm disorder marked by difficulty falling asleep during the week, problems awakening at a planned time, and morning sleepiness that significantly impairs daily functioning (American Psychiatric Society, 1994; Weitzman et al., 1979, and Wietzman et al., 1981). In a study limited to Australian college students, Lack (1986) found that the most common sleep complaints were difficulty falling asleep (18%), early morning awakening (13.2%), general sleep difficulties (12.8%) and difficulty staying asleep (9%). Interestingly, Lack found that 17% of the students reported symptoms severe enough to meet the criteria for Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome (DSPS) -- more than twice the estimated amount of the general population of 6-7% (APA, 1994, Lack, 1986). The students who met the criteria for DSPS had significantly lower grades, greater feelings of drowsiness, and irritability when compared to the rest of the sample. Another problem associated with sleep deprivation is that it reduces the amount of REM sleep due to shortened sleep periods. This is important since several studies have found that students' ability to learn is reduced when they get insufficient REM sleep (Smith & Lapp, 1991; DeKoninck, Lorrain, Proulx and Coulombe, 1989; Karni, Tanne, Rubenstein, & Askenasy, 1994 and Smith & Lapp, 1991). Further, when one takes into account that poor sleep quality is strongly associated with reduced quality of life (Pilcher et al., 1997), it is readily apparent that sleep difficulties may have wide ranging implications on students' lives. Considering the impacts that sleep difficulties, especially DSPS, may have upon students it is remarkable that few studies have explored the extent to which this problem exists. The purpose of this study is to explore the sleep habits and patterns of a sample of college students in the United States focusing on evidence of delayed sleep phase syndrome. Methods Participants The sample consisted of 191 (95 males and 96 females) undergraduates attending a large, rural United States university. Their ages ranged from 17-55, (M=19.22, SD = 4.41), with the vast majority of students being 18 (58.1%) and 19 (22%) year-old, first-year students (78.5%). The majority of respondents were Caucasian (82. …