Sleeping Less Than 9 Hours Affects Academic Performance

A joint research carried out by UAB and Ramon Llull University, published in the journal Cultura y Educación, indicates that children sleeping less than nine hours and with bad sleeping habits - such as going to bed late - do worse academically. The study was carried out in several schools with children aged 6 and 7.

13/09/2011

Directed by Ramón Cladellas, professor of the UAB Department of General, Developmental and Educational Psychology, this study is the first carried out amongst the Spanish population which demonstrates how lack of sleep can affect the academic performance of primary school children.

Researchers took a sample of 142 pupils (65 girls and 77 boys) from different schools who presented no sleep problems. By means of a questionnaire the pupils' parents were asked to answer questions on the sleeping habits of their children and to assess their academic skills.

Results indicated that students sleeping eight or nine hours do worse than those getting nine to eleven hours of sleep. Lack of sleep and other bad habits negatively affect more general communication, methodological and cross-curricular skills. With regard to more specific skills related to cognitive aspects such as memory, learning and motivation, effects are less noticeable and alterations are caused mainly by irregular sleep patterns.