This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Sleep efficiency associated with academic success
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Higher sleep efficiency, but not duration, was associated with better report card grades, according to a new study.
“Short or poor sleep is a significant risk factor for poor academic performance that is frequently ignored,” Reut Gruber, PhD, of the Douglas Institute and professor at McGill University’s department of psychiatry, said in a press release.
Researchers from Montreal evaluated 75 healthy children aged 7 to 11 years and enrolled in grades one through six for their sleeping patterns. The researchers asked parents to attach an actigraph (Actiwatch-64, Mini Mitter Co.) to their child’s wrist to monitor sleep and keep a diary of their bed and wake times. The parents also provided their child’s most recent report card.
Healthy school-aged children with higher sleep efficiency had better grades in math, English language and French as a second language. According to parent logs, children slept an average of 601 minutes during the night. Time spent in bed was 573.41 minutes, as recorded by the actigraph. The mean sleep efficiency score was 80%, according to data.
Sleep duration decreased with age. Children in grades 1 and 2 slept a mean of 606.2 minutes, grades 3 and 4 slept 564.26 minutes and grades 5 and 6 slept an average of 564.26 minutes per night, according to data. The findings did not suggest a significant association between sleep efficiency and better grades in science or art.
Researchers said sleep screenings should be conducted in school age children to properly diagnose and treat sleep deficiencies.
“We observed that the sleep duration declined with increased age. Given this trend, we suggest that prevention strategies aimed at reducing the prevalence of insufficient sleep quality or quantity should be initiated during the elementary school years. This is particularly important for students who exhibit difficulties in mathematics, languages or reading,” researchers wrote.