0067 Sleep Disparities and the Academic Achievement Gap in 1.9 Million College Students

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Adults from under-represented minority groups (URM) disproportionately experience sleep disturbances. Sleep disparities can be prevalent in academic settings, however, it is still unknown whether sleep disparities directly contribute to other disadvantages in URM students, such as the academic achievement gap. Using a national database of college students collected over 20 years, we investigated whether poor sleep quality mediated the relationship between race/ethnicity and grade point average (GPA). Methods We conducted secondary analyses on American College Health Association – National College Health Assessment survey data (ACHA-NCHA). The ACHA-NCHA I, II, IIb, IIc, and III surveys were conducted between 2000 and 2020, and included approximately 1,900,000 participants. We analyzed responses to questions regarding race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, academic achievement (GPA), daytime sleepiness, and sleep health. Non-URM students were those identifying as non-Hispanic White or Asian whereas URM students included all other racial/ethnic identifications. We calculated a sleep-problems composite score by transforming each sleep item response into a z-score and averaging across all items. Results Sleep disparities were evident amongst the college students; relative to non-URM students, URM students reported fewer days per week that they felt rested (95% CIs: 3.884–3.895 vs. 4.155–4.161) and worse sleep-problem composite scores (95% CIs: .0453–.0496 vs. -.0226 – -.0199). In addition, there was significant evidence for an academic achievement gap, such that URM students reported significantly lower GPAs than non-URM students (95% CIs: 3.162–3.166 vs. 3.344–3.346). Feeling rested and sleep problem composite scores partially mediated the relationship between race/ethnicity and academic achievement (ps < .001), explaining 4.1% and 5.1% of the variance, respectively. These results were lower in magnitude than the contribution of socioeconomic status (25.3% of the mediation variance); however, sleep problems and feeling rested continued to explain significant variance even when controlling for socioeconomic status. Conclusion Sleep disparities contribute to academic achievement gaps experienced by URM students. The current findings indicate that university-wide sleep health programs may help to remove an unnecessary barrier to academic achievement, particularly if such programs incorporate behavioral change theory and address system-level financial, sociocultural, and environmental barriers to sleep quality. Support (If Any) National Science Foundation (1920730 and 1943323)