Tipos de absorbedores puntuales

 Avoid exercise right before bed – a workout in late afternoon is ideal, because it gives your body adequate time to cool down (and a dropping body temperature is what the brain associates with sleep).

1

The Centers for Disease Control; http:// www.sleepfoundation.org; http://www.sleep-deprivation.com

2

http://www.cdc.gov/nasd/docs/d000701-d000800/d000705/d000705.html.

How Lack of Sleep Affects Student Performance

Nowadays, college students are facing a problem that can disrupt their normal life style in several ways. Lack of sleep in college student life is not only hampering the health of a college student but it is also affecting his psychological condition in several ways. Eight hours of profound sleep is needed to dissipate tiredness. Sleep acts as a medicine or a good bathe that helps a person to rejuvenate himself. As

competition is increasing day by day, college students are forced to join in the rat race. This is the reason why more and more college students are spending sleepless nights.

Lack of sleep in college student life can bring some unpleasant consequence in a long run. It has been observed that a large number of college students suffer are suffering from depression. Though no evidence is propounded to prove it, some renowned psychiatrists believe that lack of profound sleep could be one of the potent reasons of depression. This can have an adverse effect on a student‘s academic career.

Some practitioners advise to take antidepressants for dealing with this problem but in certain complicated case, it fails to generate desire result. Lack of sleep in college student life can lead to many complications if it is not heeded at the initial stage with due regards. The risk of heart attack can be increased as cholesterol level started spiraling up at a rapid speed. Even a college student can suffer from the lethal disease

Insomnia. 24 hours Internet connection, extravagant life style etc are some of the common reasons that can lead to this disorder.

Late night study is now become a trend in college life style. Sometimes a student is considered idle if he/she does not study during late night. There are other reasons too that are aggravating the current situation. As the cost of pursuing study in College is mounting up every year, some college students are forced to work at day and study at night. Apart from that, if college student spends most of his time outside then he will have to study at night to do well in the crucial examination.

1

http://www.an-online-degree-by-distance-learning.com/college_life/how-lack-of-sleep-affects-student performance.html

 Sleep Education In College: A Preliminary Study1

LING-LING TSAI, SHENG-PING LI

Summary

In this study we evaluated the effect of a two-credit (100 min./week) ―Sleep Management‖ course on the sleep patterns of college students as the course progressed over an 18-wk. semester. Curricular activity included lectures, group discussions, and practice of self-evaluation of sleep. Instead of giving the students the whole list of sleep hygiene at the outset of the course, each concept of sleep hygiene was introduced and discussed under related lecture topics. A total of 241 students (131 men and 110 women) took the course and kept 7-day sleep logs three times. Concurrently, sleep-log data were collected from 65 students (32 men and 33 women) who were not taking the course. Both groups showed similar varieties of academic backgrounds and characteristics of sleep patterns at the beginning. Similarly, their sleep patterns, namely, rise time, night time awakenings, time asleep, time in bed, sleep efficiency, and rise time

regularity, changed over the semester. Women in both groups had more night time awakenings. In contrast, sleep quality was progressively better for the group in the course but not for the control group. Only

women in the course decreased their nap time in the second and third months. Thus, the course of ―Sleep Management‖ only had a mild and limited effect on sleep patterns.

The course content needs refinement to maximize influence on students‘ sleep patterns and habits, particularly, on reduction of insufficient sleep and daytime sleepiness which are the highest ranking sleep problems among college students.

1

http://www.amsciepub.com/doi/abs/10.2466/pms.99.3.837-848

 Lack Of Sleep Can Hurt Students' Performance

College students could be undermining their own education, simply because they're not practicing proper sleep habits, according to University of Cincinnati research.

The study, led by Adam Knowlden, a UC doctoral student in UC's Health Promotion and Education Program, also holds recommendations for students to form better sleep habits that will ultimately enhance their learning. The study evaluated the sleep habits of nearly 200 undergraduate college students between the ages of 18 and 24 who were not living with a parent or legal guardian. The study included 130 females and 67 males who were mostly first-and-second-year college students. The majority of them also worked either full or part-time jobs as they were going to college. The study surveyed students' sleeping habits over a 24-hour period against national recommendations for adults to get at least seven-to-eight hours of sleep. Only 24 per cent of the students who were surveyed reported getting adequate sleep – 54.8 per cent

reported getting less than seven hours of sleep, while 20.8 per cent reported sleeping more than eight hours. Short-term effects of inadequate sleep affect concentration and memory, which is what students need to learn and to pay attention in lectures. "Sleep helps us save energy. It repairs cells in the body. And it's key for memory consolidation," said Knowlden. "During sleep, the brain acts like a hard-drive on a computer. It goes in and cleans up memories and makes connections stronger, and it gets rid of things it doesn''t need," explained Knowlden. "So if a student is sleep-deprived, it affects the whole process," said Knowlden.

"Students aren''t able to learn, they're not able to remember, it's harder to concentrate and it affects mood. They're working their way through college and they're not maximizing their learning potential," he added. Knowlden said the survey found that time management; financial concerns and stress management were all factors in why students were reporting they were sacrificing sleep.

College students could be undermining their own education, simply because they're not practicing proper sleep habits, according to University of Cincinnati research. The study, led by Adam Knowlden, a UC doctoral student in UC's Health Promotion and Education Program, also holds recommendations for students to form better sleep habits that will ultimately enhance their learning. The study evaluated the sleep habits of nearly 200 undergraduate college students between the ages of 18 and 24 who were not living with a parent or legal guardian. The study included 130 females and 67 males who were mostly first- and-second-year college students. The majority of them also worked either full or part-time jobs as they were going to college.

The study surveyed students' sleeping habits over a 24-hour period against national

recommendations for adults to get at least seven-to-eight hours of sleep. Only 24 per cent of the students who were surveyed reported getting adequate sleep – 54.8 per cent reported getting less than seven hours of sleep, while 20.8 per cent reported sleeping more than eight hours. Short-term effects of inadequate sleep affect concentration and memory, which is what students need to learn and to pay attention in lectures. "Sleep helps us save energy. It repairs cells in the body. And it's key for memory consolidation," said Knowlden. "During sleep, the brain acts like a hard-drive on a computer. It goes in and cleans up memories and makes connections stronger, and it gets rid of things it doesn''t need," explained Knowlden. "So if a student is sleep-deprived, it affects the whole process," said Knowlden.

"Students aren''t able to learn, they're not able to remember, it's harder to concentrate and it affects mood. They're working their way through college and they're not maximizing their learning potential," he added. Knowlden said the survey found that time management; financial concerns and stress management were all factors in why students were reporting they were sacrificing sleep.

1

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-09-18/parenting/29949232_1_memory-consolidation- sleep-students

 The Impact of Sleepiness Levels on Academic Achievement for College Students

Jessica Flood, Becky Brensinger, Stacie Cheek Huntington University

Abstract

College students are notorious for their sleep deprivation; however, does this lack of sleep affect their academic performance? The present study hypothesized that the sleepiness of fulltime college students aged 18 to 23 would negatively correlate with their cumulative college GPA. The 47 participants completed the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, and their grade point averages were obtained from the Registrar. The data were analyzed using Pearson r with a significance level of .05. The r obtained was compared to

the critical r and no significant difference between the variables was found. Therefore the null hypothesis was retained. Future studies should be based on long-term more objective tests of sleepiness rather than self-report.

Introduction

There have been a number of studies researching the factors that affect a person‘s grade point average (GPA). Many of these factors include family life, personality characteristics, employment, and extracurricular activities. Lee and Lee (2007) found that family closeness is a key factor in determining a child‘s academic performance. Their results indicated that students who rated their family closeness at a higher level displayed an ability to adjust to their schools better, which could enhance academic

performance because they were more comfortable in their environment. Although not suggesting that the closeness of the family is a predictor of GPA, the Halawah study (2006) did indicate that children whose parents were involved in their education and encouraged them to do their work had significantly higher GPAs.

Noftle and Robins (2007) found that conscientiousness affected a person‘s GPA. Their results suggested that individuals who increased their level of conscientiousness, such as their level of

achievement, effort, and willingness to work hard in their college careers, were more inclined to achieve higher GPAs. Klomegah (2007) emphasized that persons‘ beliefs about themselves and their abilities could determine what they accomplish and how well they accomplish it.

Cheung and Kwok (1998) indicated that a student‘s participation in extracurricular activities may not help their academic achievement and might actually harm it. This might also include employment during school months. Kulm and Cramer (2006) suggested that students who worked this many hours spent less time preparing for class, which resulted in a lower GPA.

Sleep is a very important component of a person‘s life, and its potential effects should not be overlooked. There are many studies on the influence of sleepiness that illustrated the detrimental results of losing sleep. Murphy, Richard, Masaki, and Segalowitz (2005) studied the effects of wakefulness on test taking.

Sleep is especially important for children still in school. El-Sheikh, Buckhalt, Cummings, and Keller (2007) found many disruptions in third graders including marital conflict, emotional security, child adjustment, and sleep habits using a biological test. Texeira, Lowden, Turte, Nagai, Moreno, and Latorre (2006) observed sleepiness in high school students. This study examined the sleepiness levels of evening high school students (both workers and non-workers) in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

College students are well known for sleep deprivation; therefore, Buboltz, Brown, and Barlow (2001) researched the sleep quality of this age group. There was a high percentage of sleep problems, which supported past research that college students suffer more from sleep problems than the ―normal‖ adult population. McClelland and Pilcher (2007) also examined college students‘ self-report on sleepiness. They surveyed 14 undergraduate students and studied their self-assessment of sleepiness during a 28-hour period of sleep deprivation. At the beginning of the night the participants were able to separate sleepiness

into two dimensions, state and behavioral. However, as the night progressed the participants could not distinguish between the two dimensions.

Fredriksen, Rhodes, Reddy, and Way (2004) conducted a longitudinal study of the effects of adolescent sleep loss during middle school. The participants‘ sleep loss had a relationship with more depressive symptoms, lower self-esteem, and lower grades. Wolfson and Carskadon (1998, p. 1) agreed and said, ―The way adolescents sleep critically influences their ability to think, behave, and feel during daytime hours.‖

Given that sleep influences the ability to think, there have been several studies with the variables of sleep and academic achievement. Trockel, Barnes, and Egget (2000) examined the effects of many health- related behaviors and variables on first year college students‘ grade point averages (GPA). The health- related variables included exercise, eating and sleeping habits, mood states, perceived stress, time

management, social support, spiritual and religious habits, number of hours worked per week, gender, and age.

Past research focused on university students‘ academic performance being influenced by sleep- related variables such as sleep-wake cycles and length of sleep. Kelly, Kelly, and Clanton (2001) hypothesized that undergraduate students who called themselves ―short-sleepers‖ would have a lower overall grade point average than those calling themselves ―long-sleepers.‖ Furthermore, the Medeiros, Mendes, Lima, and Araujo (2001) study explained that the university students‘ irregular sleep-wake cycle and deficiency of sleep negatively influenced their academic performance.

Shin, Kim, Lee, Ahn, and Joo (2003) studied the effects of sleep habits and excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) with school performance in senior high school students. The Epworth Sleepiness Scale defined the excessive daytime sleepiness of each participant. Their school performance was calculated by their final exams of first semester depending on their high or low grade and their rank in class. The results ―showed that the prevalence of EDS increased significantly (p< 0.001) with a decline in school

performance‖ (Shin et al., 2003, p. 3).

The Campos-Morales, Valencia-Flores, Castaño-Meneses, Castañeda-Figueiras, & Martínez- Guerrero (2005) study compared basic academic activities, mood states, and sleep habits with levels of sleepiness. The participants were categorized as sleepy or non-sleepy according to the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. They also took a Sleep Habits Questionnaire, the Profile of Mood States, and the Beck Depression Inventory. The participants then were administered short arithmetic and reading comprehension tests for evaluating their academic ability. Their study ―supports the need for a heightened awareness of the negative impact of sleepiness on academic performance and future job productivity of otherwise healthy college students‖ (Campos-Morales et al., 2005, p. 4).

As most past studies suggested, sleepiness was suspected to have a negative relationship with lower academic performance. The present study hypothesized that the sleepiness level of fulltime college students between the ages of 18 and 23 will negatively correlate with their cumulative college GPA.

Method Participants

The participants consisted of 46 students from a private, Christian liberal arts university in the Midwest who were between the ages of 18 and 23. The study excluded any student with less than 12 credit hours (part-time) and outside the age range of 18-23. The resultant sample consisted of 29 females and 17 males. Eighty-nine percent of the participants were Caucasian.

Systematic probability sampling allowed all students at this university, who met the above

stipulations, an equal opportunity to be involved in this study. They were systematically selected from a list produced by the Registrar‘s office that was arranged by the students‘ identification numbers. Every other student was chosen to be a participant by beginning at a random starting point on the list and selecting every other student. There were 392 students selected to participate in this study, with a response rate of 11.7 percent completing the survey.

Measure

The first variable of this study was sleepiness and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) (Johns, 1993) was used for measuring it (see Appendix A). Johns (1993) reported that the ―ESS is a simple questionnaire that asks the subject to rate on a scale of zero to three,‖ (p. 32) the chance of dozing off during eight different situations. The ESS score is the sum of eight questions and can range from zero to 24. ―Item and factor analyses have shown that the ESS is a unitary scale with high internal consistency (Cronback‘s alpha = 0.88). The ESS has a high test-retest reliability over a period of five months in normal subjects (r = 0.822, n = 87, p < 0.001)‖ (Johns, 1993, p. 32).

The second variable was the participants‘ cumulative grade point averages (GPAs), which were retrieved from the Registrar‘s office after the students signed the consent form. Because the students‘ cumulative GPAs were retrieved from the Registrar‘s office, the students did not have to self-disclose that information from memory, which made the data more reliable.

Procedure

After systematically selecting participants, they were emailed a request to participate in this study. Participants were told that their peers chose them for a study. There were three specific sessions where the participants were able to complete the survey. Each session was held at 8:00 p.m. in the same room. A follow-up email was sent two days before the last session encouraging participants to attend. Pizza was used as an incentive to obtain a higher response rate.

When the participants arrived, they were welcomed and read the instructions. First, they were handed a pen and a consent form and asked to read and sign it. After signing the consent form, they were given the ESS and asked to complete it. They wrote their student identification (ID) number on their survey in order to maintain confidentiality. After the research sessions, GPAs were retrieved from the Registrar‘s office according to ID number. Participants were allowed to withdraw from the study at any time; however, everyone completed the assigned tasks.

After the surveys were completed, one was omitted because of illegible handwriting, leaving 46 respondents. The score on the first variable (sleepiness) was compared with the corresponding cumulative GPA. The correlation coefficient was produced using Pearson r with a significance level set at .05 with 44 degrees of freedom. When the r obtained (r = -0.016) was compared to the critical r (r = 0.290) it revealed no significant difference between the variables. Therefore, the null hypothesis was retained.

Figure 1. Relationship between sleepiness and academic achievement

The results did not support the hypothesis that sleepiness and GPAs would negatively correlate. The lack of statistical significance between the two variables suggests that a student‘s GPA is not affected by their sleepiness; therefore, other factors need to be identified that may correlate with low GPA. Based on the present study, researchers, professors, and those interested in students‘ academic achievement could discount sleepiness as a single significant factor.

The present study was completed on a Christian liberal arts campus, whereas most prior research has been completed in a secular environment. It could be proposed that most of the students in the study, all of whom had to sign a life-style contract, would not be losing sleep from risky behavior such as drinking, drugs, and promiscuity. (The life-style contract is an agreement for students to live by Christian morals by not participating in these behaviors.) If the students in this study were losing sleep, it could be due to less risky late night behavior. The Christian environment adds a new dimension and makes this study different