Examination of Sleep Quality and ADHD Symptomatology on College Students' Academic Performance

1 online resource (65 pages) : PDF

2022

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

College students frequently struggle to obtain a sufficient amount and quality of sleep. National Sleep Foundation (NSF) guidelines recommend that young adults aged 18 to 25 obtain 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night – a goal that less than 50% of students meet. Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is another growing area of interest, with prevalence rates estimated as high as 8%. Insufficient sleep and ADHD are independently associated with greater academic concerns and lower average GPAs. However, as poor sleep and ADHD are bidirectionally related, such that insufficient sleep is linked to increased ADHD symptoms and vice versa, these two factors may interact to create a compounding effect on academic performance. The current study sought to fill the gap in the literature regarding academic performance among college students by examining ADHD symptom subtypes and aspects of sleep quality as separate and combined predictors of students' GPA. Analyses revealed main effects of ADHD but not sleep on GPA. In addition, inattentive symptoms accounted for most of the variance observed in GPA. These results have implications for the importance of routine screening of college students for mental health disorders and sleep difficulties that significantly impact academic performance and student retention. Future research should include a wider range of factors known to affect academic performance, such as study skills and executive functioning.

masters theses

Medical sciences
Education, Higher
Psychology

M.A.

Academic Performance
Adhd
Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
College Students
Sleep
Sleep Quality

Health Psychology

Demakis, George

Gaultney, Jane
Jordan, LuAnn

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2022.

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Chen_uncc_0694N_13084

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/etd:2871