Poor mental health is a major problem among college students. Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that 20% of college students likely meet criteria for a mental health condition, yet only approximately 16% of those with conditions received treatment. Data from the 2015 National College Health Assessment (N=67,308 from 108 colleges/universities) showed that 25% of the sample had a diagnostic history of a psychiatric condition. Further, this study found high rates of the presence of mental health symptoms in the past 12 months among students, with 35% reporting depression that interfered with functioning, 39% reporting overwhelming anger, 50% reporting hopelessness, 58% reporting overwhelming anxiety, 61% reporting loneliness, 66% reporting feeling very sad, 83% reporting exhaustion, and 87% reporting feeling overwhelmed. Self-harm was reported by 7% and 10% reported that they seriously considered suicide.~Many previous studies have shown that sleep is strongly related to mental health, especially among your adults. In particular, our preliminary data from the 2011-2014 National College Health Assessment data show that each night of reported insufficient sleep was associated with an increased likelihood of also reporting hopelessness (28% increase per night of insufficient sleep), feeling overwhelmed (24%), exhaustion (31%), loneliness (21%), sadness (21%), functional problems (30%), anxiety (28%), anger (27%), desire to hurt self (21%), suicide ideation (30%), and suicide attempts (12%). In looking at UA students, we previously found that among student athletes, sleep is related to mental health. Sleep duration, sleep quality, insomnia, fatigue, and symptoms of sleep disordered breathing were all independently associated with depression, anxiety, and mental well-being.~In our previous work, we developed an intervention called REST (Recovery Enhancement and Seep Training) that was deployed among student athletes. This intervention included education, sleep tracking, a financial incentive (lottery system), and support. It was effective at increasing sleep duration (by M=77 mins) and improving sleep quality (increased sleep efficiency, reduced insomnia severity, and reduced fatigue). The present study aims to examine relationships between sleep and mental health and well-being among a more heterogeneous sample of students and apply the REST intervention to this group to determine whether we can improve sleep in this group and whether changes in sleep are associated with improvements in mental health.
This study study aims to examine relationships between sleep and mental health and well-being among a more heterogeneous sample of students and apply the REST intervention to this group to determine whether we can improve sleep in this group and whether changes in sleep are associated with improvements in mental health.