Study explores students’ lack of sleep

By MATTHEW BRODER news Writer

Late night studying might be doing students more harm than good, according to a recent study involving the work of n otre d ame researchers.

The study, published in the Proceedings of the n ational Academy of s cience, found an association between average hours of sleep a night and a student’s GPA. For every average hour of nightly sleep lost over the semester, students’ GPAs dropped by 0.07 points.

The study measured the sleeping habits of first-year students at three universities, including n otre d ame, over the course of a semester. Lower average nightly sleep throughout the term predicted lower GPAs by the end of the semester, even when controlling for factors like course load and previous-term GPA.

A Washington Post piece about the study pointed out that “ s leep, especially undisturbed sleep, helps the brain process and retain information it has learned. And when someone is sleep-deprived, attention span and memory also are impaired.” s leep has long been known to be an important part of the learning process. b ut this study provides quantifiable data to prove it, especially in the case of young adults.

The n ational s leep Foundation recommends that young adults get seven to nine hours of sleep per night. Yet in this study, first-year college students across all five samples slept, on average, only around six and a half hours per night. Around 20% slept less than six hours, and only around 5% got more than eight hours. The numbers are striking, but they make sense.

“While these patterns of insufficient sleep may be troubling, they have also been found across other collegiate student samples,” the authors wrote in the study. The exact reasons behind why less sleep would cause someone to have a lower GPA are unclear, but s tephen m attingly, a postdoctoral researcher here at n otre d ame who was involved in the study, offered a few possible explanations.

“Adequate sleep is a really exceptional way for the brain to store new information and to sort it in ways that are useful for future use,” he said. “ s pecifically, during sleep, important parts of memory are replayed and ‘transferred’ into what we already know. In addition, there is global synaptic downscaling, which ‘resets’ the brain and the relative strength of neurons, especially for unremarkable or boring things.” b ecause of the crucial role sleep plays in memory consolidation, it would make sense that sleep has a direct effect on academic performance. m ore sleep would help integrate concepts learned more efficiently and make memories that last longer, both of which are helpful on exams and finals.

“ n ot sleeping enough also degrades your ability to learn new information in the first place and serves as a physiological stressor,” m attingly said. “[It] can make it hard to access information you already know, which can be critical for test-taking that underpins much of grade determinations.” d avid h achen, a fellow researcher here at n otre d ame who was also involved in the study, concurred with m attingly.

“It may be better to think about what people gain when they get more sleep. s leep has a cleansing and rejuvenating effect on our brains,” he said.

The study also gave context to the importance of sleep in college students beyond the potential adverse effects on GPA. c ollege is a major life transition between childhood and adulthood, and sleep means more than ever. m attingly offered advice to students struggling with finding the time for sleep.

“First-year college students are making some of their first efforts to establish independent sleep habits, often doing so amidst new competing pressures of work and dorm life activities and a challenging academic course load,” the authors wrote. These habits that first-year students form will stick with them even after college, and sleep debt will continue to build up unless there is some sort of intervention.

“ s leep is a powerful study tool,” he said, “[ s tudents should] consider it on a similar tier to physical exercise and nutrition. Further, sleep is critical to mental, emotional and physical health. s ometimes, sleep can be a way to work smarter rather than working harder.”

Contact Matthew Broder at mbroder@nd.edu

walking alongside and encountering people where they find themselves.” h e detailed how in the Fall of 2021, c ampus m inistry invited around 2,000 students to participate in the sessions. o f the 500 that responded yes, only about 280 students followed through and attended one of the multiple hour-long events. m c c ormick explained that facilitators simply asked attendees three questions: “how do you tend to your own spiritual needs, where do you find community, what do you want the church to know about you and what do you want n otre d ame to know about you.”

The results of the broad “survey” will be available to the public on Feb. 28 on the c ampus m inistry website and in their electronic newsletter. m c c ormick summarized the findings for the audience, highlighting a sense of marginalization in students who identify as “religiously conservative,” LG b TQ+ students, women and those who do not identify with any faith tradition. m c c ormick said there is a general lack of trust in institutions because of a lack of transparency. h e added, however, that n otre d ame does a great job of promoting places to gather and developing religious structure.

After m c c ormick’s address, each permanent member of the council gave an update on their action steps to promote faith and formation at the University before entering into the question-and-answer portion of the meeting. d uring the specific and general question-and-answer sessions, moderated by chief of staff b aumann, students asked a variety of questions both connected to the topic and about the University in general. r ight to Life club president m erlot Fogarty asked multiple questions, one regarding specific faith formation topics and one about University policies in general. h er first question was regarding dorm masses, referring to dorm-specific traditions as “irreverent” and asking what is being done to preserve the sanctity of the holy sacrament. m c c ormick responded, saying he agreed with the importance of this issue and wanted to discuss it further after the meeting. h er second question concerned an “onslaught” of chemical abortion pills being made available by the U. s . government. s he asked, “what steps is the University taking to protect women and their safety on campus?”

While o linger said he encouraged conversations to be had regarding the topic, Lee explained that they wanted to create a culture of listening to advice from trained medical professionals.

“It’s always been about making sure that students are getting medical advice and medical attention from those who are equipped and trained to give it,” Lee emphasized. o ther students asked questions regarding how a c atholic University could promote e astern o rthodoxy on campus, about the decisions being made to mandate students into getting “the shot” (i.e., the booster mandate requiring students to receive their fourth dosage of a cov I d vaccine) and inquiring as to how the council could allow an LG b TQ+ mass at the University. o linger took those opportunities to introduce the idea that two conflicting concepts can exist at the same time: “I often think about our call as a c atholic University to, at the same time, uphold the truth of the c atholic tradition and teaching and to continue to work towards inclusion and helping people feel a sense of belonging… b oth of these things can be true.”

Lee closed the night’s remarks by reminding audience members to lead by example.

“If you’re in this room, you obviously care enough about the community, and you care enough about the faith life in the community. What I would encourage you to do overall is embody your faith — your faith that is authentic, your faith that is true to our r oman c atholic identity at n otre d ame,” he said.

Historical Importance b ack during the v ietnam War, Father Theodore h esburgh started the council as a way to connect students and administrators, amidst political turmoil on campus. It was created in s eptember of 1968 from a recommendation by the b oard of Trustees at that time, according to The o bserver archives. s tudent body vice president s ofie s titt, opening the forum during Tuesday’s meeting, explained h esburgh’s choice saying, “ h e deemed it really necessary to keep students aware of University decisions and to have an open space to hear their voices and address student concerns.”

When it first was created, the s L c was actually a 24-member “legislative council” made up of eight persons within the student body, faculty and administration, respectively. Like other bodies at the University, the council had legislative authority—meaning anything that came from the s L c would go directly to the desk of the president, who would retain veto power. The student body president at the time, r ichard r ossie, criticized the creation of the council, specifically the rule that non-student members held a two-to-one voting majority over the student representatives.

“I am apprehensive about the idea of equal representation,” he said. “ n evertheless, I have an optimistic approach to the council. s tructure and numbers are important, but they mean just so much. What’s equally important are the type of people you have filling the positions.” o f note, s t. m ary’s c ollege also started a similar group around the same time, termed their “community government.” Thenpresident of the c ollege, m onsignor John m cGrath acknowledged that there is no plausible reason that students cannot sit on smc ’s board of trustees. d uring the council’s first official meeting, h esburgh proclaimed that the s L c “is one of the most important endeavors in the whole University today.”

“The new government is structured with the power filtering down from the president of the college at the top to the hall legislatures at the bottom. b etween these is a plethora of committees. c ommittees become councils as they ascend towards the presidency,” The o bserver wrote on s ept. 18, 1968.

While the s L c was an acting University body, the council convened and provided a space for authentic conversations surrounding a myriad of hot topic items including the creation of parietals, drug and alcohol use, sex, women at the University and more.

Contact Bella Laufenberg at ilaufen@nd.edu