868
Views
0
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Major Articles

The motivation behind better sleep: self-determination as a framework for examining sleep outcomes in college students

&
Pages 2538-2549 | Received 04 Dec 2020, Accepted 05 Sep 2021, Published online: 17 Nov 2021
 

Abstract

Objective

To examine sleep health within a self-determination framework across a diverse college sample.

Participants

A nonclinical sample of undergraduate students (n = 399) from a large, urban, public university in the Mid-Atlantic United States in Spring 2020.

Methods

Participants were recruited via an online research participation portal and received extra credit for participation. All measures were administered via an online survey.

Results

Basic psychological need satisfaction was associated with sleep health. This association was partially mediated by sleep hygiene but not by regulatory style. There were no racial/ethnic differences in sleep health, sleep hygiene, basic need satisfaction, or regulatory style. Men reported more maladaptive motivational styles for sleep health, and non-binary/transgender students reported worse sleep hygiene.

Conclusion

Basic psychological need satisfaction and sleep hygiene are critical targets for intervention across diverse college student populations. Motivation may be less critical for nonclinical interventions.

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States and received approval from the IRB of Virginia Commonwealth University.

Data sharing

Data are available upon request.

Funding

No funding was used to support this research and/or the preparation of the manuscript.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.