Is 6 Hours of Sleep Enough? Examining Sleep Benefits for Students

Sleep is a crucial component of overall well-being, especially for students navigating the demands of academic life. While the recommended sleep duration for adults is generally between 7-9 hours per day, many students find themselves consistently falling short. This article explores the question of whether 6 hours of sleep is sufficient for a student, considering the impact of sleep duration on academic performance, mental health, and overall well-being.

The Impact of Sleep Deprivation on Students

Scholar demands are among the causes of observed sleep deprivation in youth. It is well documented that biological and psycho-social changes during adolescence along with social pressures strongly influence high-school students’ short sleep duration. The compromise between the natural trend of adolescents towards Eveningness and their early school schedule has been pointed out as a key factor affecting sleep duration and quality.

Chronic short sleep duration is associated with an increase in several risk factors, and with an increase in the relative risk for multiple-cause mortality. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 30% of American young adults report short sleep duration.

Students’ sleep duration, sleep pattern, and daytime sleepiness have been proved to affect their academic performance. Despite the relevance of sufficient sleep duration, there is some evidence that students reduce their sleep during exam periods and the night before a test. An actigraphy study with final-year high school students showed a reduction in sleep duration, quality, and efficiency. It has been interpreted that the increase in psychological distress and anxiety typical of exams periods affect both sleep duration and quality.

More than half the participants often do all their study in one session previous to the test, and most of them also “cram” lots of information in this previous night sacrificing sleep hours with no benefits in their performance. Almost 60% of them reported engaging at least once in all-night study sessions, which hampered their test performance.

The Reality of Sleep Habits Among Students

Seventy to 96 percent of college students get less than eight hours of sleep each week night. And over half of college students sleep less than seven hours per night. Of course, many students attempt to catch up on lost sleep by sleeping late on the weekends.

There are very few individuals who are so-called short sleepers, people who really don’t need more than six hours of sleep.

The Risks of Insufficient Sleep

According to the CDC, staying awake for 18 hours can have the same effect as a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.05 percent. And according to research by AAA, drowsy driving causes an average of 328,000 motor vehicle accidents each year in the US.

Over the long term, chronic sleep deprivation can have a serious impact on your physical and mental health. The impact on your mental health can be just as serious. If you are well rested, you will experience less daytime sleepiness and fatigue. You may need less caffeine to stay awake during those long lectures.

The Benefits of Adequate Sleep

Sleep is very important for consolidating memories. In any sort of experimental setting, study results show better performance if you learn material and then sleep on it, instead of remaining awake.

It’s a vicious circle where the more stressed you get, the less you sleep, and the less you sleep, the more stressed you get. Establishing a sleep schedule and adequate sleep duration can improve your ability to cope with stress.

When you sleep, your brain processes all the information you've taken in during the day. It filters out and deletes some information, while storing other information in memory. As you push your body to be stronger, go faster and be more agile, your tissues undergo continual wear and tear. Sleep provides your body time and energy to repair the wear and tear. Because your body has undergone these repair sessions, you're less likely to be injured.

Studies of collegiate athletes show that when they don't get enough sleep, their reaction times and accuracy decrease. One study focusing on basketball free throws and three-pointers found that sleep-deprived athletes can see a drop of 50% in accuracy. With 10 or more hours of sleep, accuracy can increase by 10%. Getting enough sleep also helps with your mental health and resiliency.

The sleep state allows your brain to take in new information more fully and to better synthesize new experiences and knowledge. As you sleep, your brain is busy organizing and correlating memories. Sleep also helps repair the body. The damage we sustain every day - from stress, pollutants, infection, sun exposure, etc. It reduces stress.

How Tests Influence Sleep Behavior

In a study, data was presented to evaluate the influence of tests on freshman college students’ sleep behavior and the influence of sleep on their academic performance. This is the first study to explore how sleep patterns of the night before the test change when the test is taken at different times.

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Overall, most students delayed their bedtime the night before the test, reducing their sleep duration, and more than 10% did not even sleep at all the night before. Even when the test started as late as 13:15, the sleep duration of the night before was shorter than in regular nights, and 10% of the students stayed awake all night. In addition, sleep duration was positively correlated with the number of correct answers in the test, and therefore with school grades.

High rate of short regular sleep was found in both surveys, with more than 1/2 and almost 1/3 of students who reported sleep duration <7 h in average per night. The rate of students with short regular sleep was higher and mean sleep duration was shorter in students of School of Science than in students of the Psychology School, probably because the former were younger than the latter.

Taking the test had a strong influence in the night before sleep behavior of students, a pattern that has been previously described using both actigraphy data and questionnaires in young students. Sleep reduction seems to be a consequence of giving up hours of sleep to obtain more study hours prior to the test.

The Link Between Sleep Duration and Academic Performance

Several previous studies reported a positive association between regular sleep duration and grades, while others highlight the importance of regular sleep quality, rather than duration, on academic performance.

An association of regular sleep duration and test performance was observed only in one survey, as the odds ratio of correct answers increased with sleep duration. Sleep duration on the night before the test did predict test performance in another survey, and was a better predictor of performance compared to regular sleep.

In both surveys when predicted correct answer rate was converted to grades 8 h-sleepers obtained a passing grade while all-nighters did not. One study found a similar result using actigraphy data and showing that long-sleep students outperform short-sleep students in tests scores.

School and test shifts, an obligated solution to the insufficient universities’ infrastructure to deal with the progressively increasing number of students in many countries, can also be seen as an opportunistic tool to deepen the study of the influence of test start time on sleep and performance.

The sleep duration of the night before the test was different between test shifts, as last shift students slept more than the first shift students.

Strategies for Improving Sleep Habits

Staying ahead of coursework and avoiding distractions and procrastination while you study is key to avoiding the need for late night study sessions. Limit caffeine in close proximity to bed time. Establish a sleep schedule.

Keep a sleep diary for a week. Pay attention to your sleep in a structured way. And be sure to record how you felt during the day. This can really help you make the link between how you slept the night before and how you feel during the day.

Create a sleep-friendly environment. Your bedroom should be quiet, dark, relaxing and cool. Setting aside at least 20 to 30 minutes before bedtime to wind down. That includes putting away all electronics and screens, such as phones, tablets and TVs.

Build decompression time into your schedule. Make your bedroom a safe space for sleeping. Dim the lights two hours before bed and keep your room cool and quiet. Avoid stimulating phone use right before bed. Watching a boring nature documentary might help you get to sleep. Scrolling on social media won’t. Avoid napping during the day. Get sunshine every morning, and exercise during the day. Consider trying magnesium supplements to help you fall asleep. Instead, allow yourself a buffer window to fall asleep (and remember that six hours of sleep is not enough).

Go to sleep when you are tired. Disengage from digital devices (cell phone, tablets, computers, e-readers) at least 30 minutes before bedtime. Research has shown that these backlit devices interfere with sleep.

Don’t study, read, watch TV or talk on the phone in bed. If you take a nap, then keep it brief. It is best to go to bed and wake up at the same times on the weekend as you do during the schoolweek. If you missed out on a lot of sleep during the week, then you can try to catch up on the weekend. Avoid caffeine in the afternoon and at night. Dim the lights in the evening and at night so your body knows it will soon be time to sleep. Take some time to “wind down” before going to bed. Never eat a large meal right before bedtime.

Overcoming Barriers to Adequate Sleep

Daily life is full of stressors that can sabotage your best attempts to establish a healthy sleep routine. One of those stressors may be a wearable device tracking your sleep.

Having a good support network of family, friends, coaches and teammates to talk with can help you cope with some of those stressors.

Emotional well-being is a foundation for good sleep habits, and resources for achieving it are a staple of campus life at USF.

The Importance of Self-Care and Sleep Education

Each year during orientation, students are taught about the importance of self-care behaviors. These behaviors include eating well, exercising, staying hydrated, taking time with loved ones, and getting enough sleep.

In addition to sharing with students the importance of sleep as it relates to learning, retention, and performance, and not just on examinations, this could be something that is explored when a student is not performing well. Inquiry into their study habits and sleep habits could illuminate that lack of sleep is part of the issue.

Providing the opportunity for open discussion, sharing and learning what their classmates do around sleep can be enlightening, informative, and at times entertaining. Or perhaps we can do what one professor did to address this issue. He challenged his students. Students would receive extra credit if they averaged eight or more hours of sleep during final exams week. Sleep was measured using actigraphy. The results showed that final exam performances were better in those students who slept eight or more hours. The study also helped to show students that it is possible to get appropriate amounts of sleep during final exams week and still have enough time to study.

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