Sleep Practices of University Students Living in Residence

Abstract

Sleep plays an important role in both students’ academic and personal life. Despite widespread sleep problems among young adults, few studies focus on higher education students living in campus residence. This study investigated residence-living students’ sleep patterns, sleep promoting practices, sources of help seeking, and preferred ways to receive information. Results highlighted that 66.8% of the participants did not think they had enough sleep. However, only 18.9% of the students sought help. The campus residence sleep environment was challenging for many students. Problems such as uncomfortable room temperature and noise were frequently identified. Students used different strategies to promote sleep such as opening the window, reading books, listening to music, and alcohol. Efficient knowledge translation activities to facilitate the understanding of sleep physiology and sleep problem solving are needed at both the student and the organizational planning/administration level. Further studies focusing specifically on sleep environment scans and developing guidelines are recommended.