The day-to-day impact of nighttime noise disturbances on college students’ psychological functioning

Abstract

Objective

To understand environmental predictors (i.e., nighttime noise disturbance) of sleep health (i.e., restedness) in residential college students and its potential mental health consequences, this study examined daily variation in restedness upon awakening as a potential mediator between nightly environmental noise disturbances and daily fluctuations in depressive and anxiety symptoms. Participants: The sample was comprised of 283 college students (M_age = 19.9, SD = 1.9; 79% female). Methods: Multilevel structural equation modeling was conducted based on an initial self-report, online questionnaire and an online 7-day daily sleep (morning) and mood (evening) diary. Results: Daily fluctuations in college students’ reports of restedness (morning diary) mediated the association between the nighttime presence of noise disturbances (morning diary) and depressive and anxiety symptoms (evening diary). Conclusions: Given the high prevalence of mental health problems in college students, creating more conducive sleep environments may help to prevent depressive and anxiety symptoms in this population.

Keywords:

• College
• environmental noise
• mental health
• sleep

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 of America and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of Daemen College.

Data availability

Data from the current study are available from the corresponding upon request.

Additional information

Funding

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