Associations between sleep and academic performance in US adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis

This systematic review and meta-analysis aim to investigate the relationship between sleep and academic performance in students enrolled in secondary education programs in the United States. The study team conducted a literature search of 4 databases—PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, and ERIC—on September 19...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sleep medicine 2021-07, Vol.83, p.71-82
Main Authors: Musshafen, Leslie A., Tyrone, Rachel S., Abdelaziz, Aya, Sims-Gomillia, Courtney E., Pongetti, Lauren S., Teng, Fei, Fletcher, Lauren M., Reneker, Jennifer C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic performance
Adolescent
Meta-analysis
Sleep
Student
Systematic review
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This systematic review and meta-analysis aim to investigate the relationship between sleep and academic performance in students enrolled in secondary education programs in the United States. The study team conducted a literature search of 4 databases—PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, and ERIC—on September 19 and repeated December 17, 2020. Studies were included if they were observational, published in a peer-reviewed, non-predatory journal, available in full-text, written in English, included adolescents enrolled in an organized academic program, took place in the US, and evaluated the effect of sleep duration and/or sleep quality on academic performance. After excluding reviews, editorials, interventions, and those targeting diagnostic groups, 14 studies met inclusion criteria. Risk of bias was assessed using the NIH Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-Sectional Studies; 12 studies were found to be good or high quality, 2 were adequate/fair or poor quality. A meta-analysis of 11 of the included studies revealed that sleep duration (r = 0.03; 95%CI −0.027, 0.087; p = 0.087) and sleep quality (r = 0.089; 95%CI 0.027, 0.151; p = 0.005) had negligible correlations with academic performance (non-significant and significant, respectively). Inconsistencies in definitions, methods, and measures utilized to assess sleep duration, sleep quality, and academic performance constructs may offer insight into seemingly conflicting findings. Given the pivotal role sleep plays in development, future investigations utilizing validated and objective sleep and academic performance measures are needed in adolescents. •There is a complex relationship between sleep and academic performance.•There are limited valid and objective measures of sleep.•Sleep duration is not significantly correlated with overall academic performance.•Sleep quality is significantly correlated with overall academic performance.•Night awakenings demonstrate a correlation on academic performance outcomes.
ISSN:1389-9457
1878-5506
DOI:10.1016/j.sleep.2021.04.015