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What do young adults think they know about their sleep?

Kathy Sexton-Radek

Sleep deprivation secondary to socially imposed restricted sleep schedules is common in young adult sleepers. Grade point averages, overall health, mood and cognitive abilities of attention are a few empirically substantiated variables that are altered by poor sleep in young adults. Numerous studies have identified the problematic condition of poor performance in college coursework, performance on learning activities involving creativity and/or initiative and perceptions of the impact of sleepiness on behavior. Education informs opinion and beliefs about behaviors. The current study was designed to investigate the level of knowledge about sleep in young adults. Education informs opinion and beliefs about behaviors. Students were provided with a ten-item questionnaire about sleep concepts at the start and following six weeks of one hour per week classroom instruction on the basics of sleep science. A dichotomous agrees or disagree response for each question was requested. The course was organized around broader themes of sleep science and dreaming. The feedback about the change over time in terms of the general sleep concepts that the questionnaire measured was used to organize additional coverage of topics for enhanced learning. A summarization of the percentage of change from pre to post by item is reported. Implications of the findings of better learning in some sleep concept areas and not in others are presented. Implications of the translation of knowledge of sleep concept and to the practice of health sleep hygiene is discussed.