Presenter(s): Ari Sepulveda
Faculty Mentor(s): Melissa Latham
Poster 158
Session: Social Sciences & Humanities
Poor sleep hygiene and mental health issues are common amongst college students due to high stress and rigorous environments. This project uses the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) to assess improvements in sleep quality and mental health after exposure to our developed sleep intervention. During the intervention, participants had a phone application which provided helpful suggestions (“nudges”) and reminders to help initiate healthier sleep hygiene, and improve related mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety, and stress. Participants in the study were given both the DASS and the PSQI surveys at the beginning and culmination of the five-week study. Our research indicates that although scores in the DASS measurement did not significantly decrease, overall sleep quality was significantly improved through the intervention. While depression and lack of sleep are correlated, sleep does not directly impact stress and other mental health issues. Although not all hypotheses were met, we were able to successfully implement the sleep intervention to impact the quality of sleep in college students.