Dados do Trabalho

Título

Influence of the school shift on subjective sleep quality and related parameters and subjective well-being in college students

Introdução

College students are routinely exposed to exacerbated stress, which harms their mental and physical health and may impact on their academic life. The high demands and obligations, the lifestyle conditions to which students are exposed to can contribute to poor sleep quality by inducing excessive daytime sleepiness and increased sleep latency. The literature describes that interventions by delaying the school start time improves students' sleep quality with increment of the total sleep time and reduction of daytime sleepiness.

Objetivo

Evaluate the influence of the study shift (morning, evening, night or full-time) in sleep quality and related parameters and on subjective well-being.

Métodos

We analyze data of 615 students from public (Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo) and private (Centro Universitário São Camilo) colleges in Sao Paulo city. Data were collected between September/2018 and June/2021 with an electronic form, containing sociodemographic questions and questionnaires to access subjective sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), circadian preferences (Morning-Eveningness Questionnaire), daytime sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Scale) and subjective well-being (World Health Organization 5-item Well-being Index). Gender (82% women), age (23±7 years) and circadian preferences were used as covariates in the statistical analysis.

Resultados

No significant effects related to school shift were found for any of the sleep parameters and subjective well-being evaluated. Women had poor sleep quality and more daytime sleepiness when compared to men. Early preferences were associated with better sleep quality, greater subjective well-being and less daytime sleepiness.

Conclusões

We did not observe any effect of the school shift on the subjective sleep quality and related parameters and on subjective well-being. However, our results demonstrated that women and evening-types may be more vulnerable to harmful changes in these parameters. This study can serve as a basis for future studies in the understanding of how these relationships occur and, possibly, in the development of interventions that aim to promote well-being, reception and support for these students.

Palavras -chave

Sleep. College students. Well-being. Biological rhythms.