Napping in College Students and Its Relationship With Nighttime Sleep

Abstract.

Objective: To examine the habit of napping and its relationship with nighttime sleep in college students. Participants: Four hundred and forty undergraduate students who responded to an anonymous online survey in April 2010. Methods: Three questions were asked to determine the frequency, length, and timing of napping during the past month. Sleep quality was measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Results: The PSQI score significantly differed among self-reported nap-frequency (p = .047) and nap-length (p = .017) groups, with those who napped more than 3 times per week and those who napped more than 2 hours having the poorest sleep quality. Students who napped between 6 and 9 pm had shorter sleep on school nights compared with students in other nap-timing groups (p = .002). Conclusions: College students who are self-reported frequent, long, and late nappers may have a higher risk of poor nighttime sleep quality and more severe sleep deprivation.

Keywords:

• academic performance
• college students
• napping
• sleep deprivation
• sleep habits
• sleep quality

FUNDING

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

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 Institutional Review Board of Boston College.

NOTE

For comments and further information, address correspondence to Lichuan Ye, PhD, RN, Assistant Professor, Boston College, William F. Connell School of Nursing, Cushing Hall 423, 140 Commonwealth Avenue, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA (e-mail: [email protected]).