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Sleep patterns for high-school and college students revealed

The new data presented by Sleep Cycle (providers of an app that assesses sleep quality) finds that college students, in going to bed much later than high school students during the school year, go to sleep around 12:24 a.m. compared to 11:35 p.m. for their high-school counterparts. In terms of wake-up time, college students are tending to wake-up around 7:48 a.m. compared to high-schoolers who are rising around 6:50 a.m. This means that, on average, college students are getting more sleep by about 9 minutes and are also, based on the qualitative findings of the study, waking up in a better mood than high school students.

These differences with sleeping patterns are not so wide when both sets of students are on vacation. When away from the academic institution, college students are typically going to bed at 12:20 a.m.; whereas, high schoolers are opting to go to sleep at 12:10 a.m., on average. With waking up times on vacation, college students are rising around 7:52 a.m. and the high school contingent are getting up at a similar time – 7:47 a.m. This time the qualitative assessments of mood reveal that both groups of young people are waking up in a very similar mood, both are recording as being in better moods their average wake up moods during school. or college time.

The survey shows the types of big data analytics that can be drawn from health apps. The data set drew upon over 12 million nights’ worth of sleep data relating to young people, collected from between September 1, 2017 to August 31, 2018. This data set comprised of 172,000 teens, aged 15-18 (the high-schoolers), plus over 292,000 people aged 19-22 (the college students), who lived in the U.S.

The data was reviewed for how people were sleeping, with a view to assess how they sleep, contrasting the periods during term time and the young people were left to their own sleep-wake patterns. When school is in session, U.S. students have a tendency to obtain less sleep and they invariably wake up in worse moods. The data was cross-compared with students in other countries, where it was found that U.S. students sleep less than students in other countries and often report worse moods on waking up.

To remain effective students, sleep is important, according to Sleep Cycle Institute panelist Dr. Catherine Darley. The medic cautions that “Sleep is needed for both the formation of memories and their retrieval, so getting the right amount of sleep each night matters.” Furthermore, she notes that young people who understand the best time to study and stick to a schedule, which balances sufficient sleep, tend to perform better under exam conditions.

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Written By

Dr. Tim Sandle is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for science news. Tim specializes in science, technology, environmental, business, and health journalism. He is additionally a practising microbiologist; and an author. He is also interested in history, politics and current affairs.

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