Sleep health, messaging, headaches, and academic performance in high school students

Abstract

Aim: We tested for associations of bedtime, sleep duration, instant messaging, and chronic headaches with hypersomnolence and academic performance in a sample of high school students in New Jersey, USA.

Methods: Students were surveyed anonymously and asked to report their sleep and messaging habits, headache status, and overall grades.

Results: We found that greater hypersomnolence was associated with later bedtimes, shorter sleep durations, and the presence of chronic headaches, but not with messaging after lights out. Also, we found that academic performance was lower in students who messaged after lights out, but it was not affected by headache status, bedtime, or sleep duration.

Conclusions: These results are consistent with other studies that have demonstrated associations between headaches and hypersomnolence and between instant messaging habits and academic performance. They also add to a growing literature on the relationships among use of electronic devices, sleep health, and academic performance by adolescents.

Keywords: Academic performance; Adolescents; Headaches; Sleep health; Sleepiness; Text messaging.