Effect of Sleep on Mental Health

Sleep Habit Correlation with Academic Performance

Problem Statement

a)

Since I can remember my parents have always instilled the sense of importance and accomplishment that goes with education. I was always encouraged to continue to look for any means necessary to help me achieve my goals and to do well in school. I’ve used several tutoring classes, literature with helpful studying tips, and after school study sessions as different ways, and my family also tried to provide me with the potential tools to succeed as well. However, no matter how much most of us try to study or prepare for upcoming exams there are days or moments when we go completely blank, or our memory fails to recall the information we need. In spite of all the preparation, we come up short. Why does this happen?

The applied setting for this research is college, where learners struggle to reach their academic goals.

b)

For my research study my topic of interest within the field of cognitive psychology will be about memory, sleep habits, and if possible, to see the potential effects of participants academic performance and how it is relevant in mental health.

Two theories that may be used to help guide this research are 1) Maslow’s theory of the hierarchy of human needs, which posits that humans have basic foundational needs that must be met before they can achieve self-actualization; and 2) Orem’s self-care deficit theory, which was published in 1971 and posits that natural resilience is something people should have and do have when they personally take care of themselves. When people neglect to maintain their health, including getting enough rest, they negatively impact their minds and bodies. Allison (2007) states that achieving “a balance 

between activity and rest (a universal self-care requisite) is a legitimate concern” and thus making sure rest is achieved is important for health (p. 68). Helping learners to understand why they need more rest and sleep for academic achievement might help them to reach their academic goals.

c)

Specific issues related to your contemporary problem, the applied setting, and the limits of the human cognitive system are that poor sleep habits can be viewed as negative unhealthy habits that have been linked to mental health issues like anxiety (Vazsonyi et al., 2021). The problem of poor sleep habits relates to the applied setting, what we know about cognition, and how this impacts performance because sleep affects the brain and body’s ability to perform in the academic setting. A student who does not get sufficient rest but who believes mistakenly that he is sufficiently healthy is one who may struggle to understand why he or she is not reaching academic goals.

d)

For my project I will be conducting a research study to answer the following research questions:

· What kind of study techniques can students use to improve their memory?

· How do healthy sleeping habits affect students with their memory recall?

· If a student is suffering from a mental health issue or disorder will these strategies still be as effective to improve academic performance?

Contemporary Relevance

a)

Bower et al. (2010) found that poor reported sleep quality is predictive of negative affects in daily life among people who may otherwise be described as having a healthy mindset. Moreover, Cox et al. (2020) found that insomnia and post traumatic stress disorder share similar symptoms, suggesting that trauma and restlessness have a meaningful association. Is lack of rest indicative of some untreated or undiagnosed trauma? Or is a lack of ability to rest itself a kind of trauma? In either case, it stands to reason that rest impairment is a problem especially for students at college who need rest in order to perform well. Does stress prevent them from obtaining rest?

Orem’s self-care theory applies well to this issue because it focuses on the ability of the individual to be responsible for his or her own health and health choices. Self-care theory posits that people can take ownership of their own lives, make adjustments to their lifestyles, and ultimately maintain a higher quality of life. This theory has significant utility but it is also limited by the fact that it must be taught to people in order for them to understand its potential.

Maslow’s theory is strong because it emphasizes the basic foundational needs like physical needs, such as food, shelter, rest, security, that must be met before a person can become able to perform at a higher level. The idea is that a person who is distracted by basic concerns might not have enough energy or confidence to reach full potential. The limitation of this idea is that people who live ascetic lifestyles or who do not concern themselves with lower level needs can sometimes perform at very high levels; and one example could be Gandhi.

Vazsonyi et al. (2021) also have some theoretical importance here: they theorized that over a period of time of students performing and doing healthy sleep habits that this would predict a positive developmental change and outcome in the students’ lives. They explain how negative unhealthy habits have been linked to mental health issues like anxiety but also provide information on how to improve this behavior.

b)

Orem’s self-care theory has the most utility as it allows one to see rest as recreation and defines the amount of sleep a healthy person should have (Allison, 2007). However, it is also the theoretical perspective of Vazsonyi et al. (2021) that will be most useful in guiding this research, as they have identified a number of correlations that will be helpful in examining the research from the standpoint of different inputs.

Interpretation of Research Findings

a)

Allen et al. (2021) conducted a study that highlights how certain levels of stress can have a negative effect on sleep quality. The study mainly focuses on graduate students from two large public universities which allows a large sample size population. They then apply their findings by concluding that high quality sleep overall can be an effective method to counteract or prevent the latter from possibly occurring. Their research helps to show correlations among sleep, stress, and academic performance, which can be beneficial information for this research.

Eliasson et al. (2017) conducted a study that would compare and contrast sleep habits and quality between US-born students versus international students. The authors attempted to apply the findings in their research to create and implement a “sleep improvement” programs for college students that may help benefit them. The article mentions that the program the researcher proposes could possibly be fully utilized if used in a more culturally diverse classroom or group of participants. The information the author collects doesn’t show much difference between both groups of students, but it did help the researcher organize and study the students sleep habits to help them understand the data even further. This article perfectly demonstrates what I hope to accomplish in my research by using my findings for the benefit of helping out other students as well.

Wang and Biro (2021) identify common behaviors or findings that would explain the importance of sleep quality and how it can have positive and negative effects to students. The researchers in this article searched through several library databases to examine other studies that explain several correlations between different positive and negative factors that can influence sleep quality and academic performance as well. The article continues to explain how some outliers like caffeinated energy drinks can be one of the variables that can negatively influence unhealthy sleep patterns. This article may have its short comings in certain ways but by using and citing other peer-reviewed and published works in this article it helps provide validity to many of the claims and theories the author mentions. One of the research questions I hope to answer is how healthy sleeping habits can possibly affect students’ memory recall.

Vazsonyi et al. (2021) identify the level of importance for adolescent development and how sleep quality can have an overall effect on their lives. I intend to use this study in my research as it addresses one of the research questions that I wish to answer, which is to try to find effective strategies that may help improve academic performance especially for students who may be suffering from any mental health issues or disorders.

b)

Some of the articles that I found so far have all found some form of correlation between sleep, memory retention, and academic performances. The problem however is that much of the data and research that has already been done is still fairly new or there are some articles that do show high correlations but there may be some issue with how the experiments were conducted and some data was analyzed. I tried not to focus too much on those issues if I found that there were not any ethical problems with the experiments conducted. For the articles that I chose I believe that much of the research founded in them helps back up my claims and strongly suggests that my hypothesis may be correct and there will be a significant difference and increase in quality of grades for the students that do go to sleep after two hours of studying.

The limitations of the article by Allen et al. (2021) are its small sample. Other studies with larger samples are better for generalizing findings. The study by Eliasson et al. (2017) also has a small sample size and is thus limited in that sense. However, one of the strengths of that study is that by conducting their survey and breaking down the data and information they collected, they opened the door to other perspectives being formed on the information. By looking at the data from various perspectives I may be able to find other variables that can possibly have a correlation or influence affect between sleep, memory, and/or academic performance. One limitation of the Vazsonyi et al. (2021) article is that the researchers mainly use students who are primarily Czech which may not be relevant or applicable in all settings.

Some strengths of the articles are that, first, Wang and Biro (2021) cross referenced and researched other articles in regards to the same topics that I will be looking into it may benefit me in my proposal in the long run. The different possible theories that this article mentions from other researchers I believe may help bring some validity to any possible outcomes or claims that I may find in my study too. The Vazsonyi et al. (2021) study is strong because it does a great job discussing how these negative unhealthy habits have been linked to mental health issues like anxiety but also provide information on how to improve this behavior. This study goes on to list other possible links and correlations between mental health and healthy sleep habits and illustrates certain habits that can be developed and practiced over time. By applying this information to my proposal, I feel that it would help validate my claims and also possibly determine any other positive links that I may find in my data analysis.

These articles are mostly helpful in providing support for this research but the gap still exists in terms of understanding the relationship between memory, sleep, mental health, and whether sleep/rest strategies can be helpful for a person with mental health issues in supporting academic performance. This research will aim to close that gap.

Methodological Principles

a)

The study participants will comprise students currently enrolled in the Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) Online Studies program. It is anticipated the participants will be between 7-12 students. To ensure we have a representative population, the researcher will ensure they have an equal number of participants representing males and females. Having a balanced sample can generalize the study results for the population under study, and both genders will be equally represented in the results. For this reason, the study will rely on purposive sampling when selecting the population to participate in the study. The main requirement for the prospective study participants is they should be currently enrolled students of the SNHU Online Studies program. The students will be requested to participate in the study, and only those who show willingness will be included.

Socially responsible strategies and techniques that could be used for improving upon human cognitive processes specific to this applied setting would include establishing teaching zones on campus where students can learn about Orem’s self-care theory and how to practice self-care. This would give them an opportunity to understand what care for the whole person means, why rest and sleep are healthy, and what a person can do to deal with mental health issues.

One other strategy is to offer students a place where they can rest, recreate, and sleep (using sleep pods) in case they find their own dorms or homes too chaotic or need to rest or sleep in between classes. This could be a way to bring rest opportunities to students in the setting.

The study will rely on a survey to gather data. Qualtrics will be the tool used to create and administer the survey. Qualtrics is an online platform endorsed by the SNHU for use in this project, and it offers an easy and intuitive way of creating and administering the survey (Molnar, 2019). Due to its relative ease of use, Qualtrics offers the study participants an easy way to access the study survey and respond. For the researcher, it is easy to create questions and gather data from the survey tool after the respondents have finished answering. The best thing about the survey tool is that you can generate test responses to see what the data set and report will look like before sending the survey to the study participants (Molnar, 2019). Any corrections can then be made, ensuring one captures the correct data.