Effect of Sleep Deprivation on Mental Health among University Students

Abstract

The present study aimed to assess the effect of sleep deprivation on mental health among university students (23 to 27 Years). The study further assessed the Null Hypothesis (university students' mental health status as determined by the DASS-21, for stress, anxiety, and depression) and (sleep deprivation as determined by the PSQI) do not significantly correlate and alternative hypothesis (university students' mental health status as determined by the DASS-21, for stress, anxiety, and depression) and sleep deprivation (as determined by the PSQI) are significantly correlated. Data were collected from 100 students, belonging to age group of 23-27 years, using volunteer, snowball and purposive sampling technique. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) were used to measure the sleep quality and deprivation and mental health status of the participants respectively. An independent samples t-test is used to compare the scores of both groups (sleep deprived group and non-sleep deprived group). Results of the current study showed that the sleep deprived group (M=20.3, SD=7.1) reported significantly higher depression scores compared to the non-sleep deprived group (M=13.8, SD=6.3), the sleep deprived group scored higher (M=18.6, SD=6.8), while the non-sleep deprived group scored significantly lower (M=12.4, SD=5.7) on anxiety, and the sleep deprived group (M=22.1, SD=6.9) reported significantly higher stress scores compared to the non-sleep deprived group (M=16.2, SD=5.4). A statistically significant relationship exists between sleep deprivation scores and mental health status, which is indicated by the current study's p value (0.001), which is less than the significance level of 0.05. Therefore, the alternative hypothesis is highly supported and the null hypothesis is rejected.