Circadian preference and college student beliefs about how to cope with sleepiness

Abstract

This study examined college students' beliefs about effective ways to relieve sleepiness to see whether they were related to their circadian preferences (i.e. evening types or morning types). Students rated the effectiveness of 10 methods used to cope with sleepiness. Evening types were more likely to endorse methods that are maladaptive to good night-time sleep, compared to intermediate types (i.e. neither morning nor evening types). Evening types rated exercise as relatively less effective and caffeine consumption as relatively more effective at relieving sleepiness than did intermediate types. The methods students use to relieve sleepiness may be one of the factors that contribute to the higher rate of sleep problems among evening types compared to other chronotypes. Further research is needed to see how student beliefs about effective ways to relieve sleepiness relate to what they actually do when they are sleepy.

Keywords:

• college students
• circadian preference
• sleepiness
• coping methods
• chronotype

Acknowledgements

Stacey Rhodes contributed to this project by assisting with data input and analysis. Grant MacEwan College provided the physical infrastructure for the research.