An experiment in which college students' sleep time was intentionally increased revealed that their academic performance actually improved.
Recent research has suggested that sleep may be important for mental and physical health and
Sleep: Educational Impact and Habit Formation | Journal of Political Economy: Vol 0, No 0
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/740221
A Simple Change to Sleep Directly Boosts Academic Performance, Study Reveals : ScienceAlert
https://www.sciencealert.com/a-simple-change-to-sleep-directly-boosts-academic-performance-study-reveals
While there have been several studies linking human cognitive function, academic performance, and sleep duration, very few have identified a causal relationship between increased sleep duration and improved academic performance through experiments that increased the sleep duration of specific individuals.
Osea Juntera, associate professor of economics at the University of Pittsburgh, said, 'We were primarily interested in two questions. First, whether simple behavioral interventions could help students develop healthier, more sustainable sleep habits. Second, while many studies have shown a strong correlation between sleep and academic performance, there has been little evidence of a causal relationship showing that improving sleep actually leads to improved academic performance, using wearable devices or real-life environments.'
Therefore, Juntera and his research team conducted multiple experiments with 1,149 university students. Before the experiment, these students were getting an average of only 6.6 hours of sleep per night, and in particular, 29% of the time on weekdays, they were getting less than 6 hours of sleep. In the experiment, participants were given Fitbit health trackers for sleep monitoring, and their sleep was tracked over a long period. During the 4-week experimental period, they were randomly assigned to one of two groups.
The experimental group was encouraged to sleep for at least seven hours on weekday nights during the four-week experiment and received individual bedtime reminders. They also received $4.75 (approximately 750 yen) per night for each time they met their nightly sleep goal. The control group, on the other hand, simply wore a Fitbit health tracker and were not instructed to change their sleep patterns or given any rewards for their sleep duration.
Compared to the control group, the experimental group of university students slept longer during the experiment, with a 26% increase in the percentage of nights achieving 7 hours of sleep, and an overall increase of 19 minutes per night. After the experiment, the experimental group of university students continued to sleep longer than before the experiment, but the increase was only an average of 8 minutes.
Juntera stated, 'After the first survey in 2019, we were confident that the intervention improved sleep and that some of that effect persisted even after the incentive ended. However, we were convinced we had made a significant discovery when we cross-referenced the experimental data with the students' official university transcripts and confirmed improvements in their GPAs.'
When comparing college students' GPA with their sleep duration, the experimental group showed a GPA improvement of '0.075 to 0.089 points' in the semesters that overlapped with the experimental period in which they were instructed to increase their sleep duration, and a similar effect persisted in the following semester. While this GPA improvement effect was relatively small and requires further research to confirm its reproducibility, the evidence that an intervention to increase sleep duration led to actual academic improvement is very promising.
Juntera stated, 'Sleep deprivation is very common among young people, but universities are struggling to find cost-effective ways to improve students' performance. To our knowledge, this is the first field study to show a causal relationship between improving sleep quality and improving academic performance.'
The GPA improvements observed in this experiment are comparable to, or even surpass , those achieved through financial incentives such as scholarships. Furthermore, the costs involved are far less than those of scholarships.
Juntera stated, 'What I find most appealing about these is that they are relatively simple interventions and have the potential to be applied and tested in a variety of environments. They could be applied not only in universities but also in other schools and workplaces.'
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