New Delhi: Better sleep may be one of the most effective ways to boost academic performance, according to two new studies, with researchers finding benefits from middle school through college.
The two studies, published separately in the Journal of Political Economy and Psychological Medicine in July, suggest that sleep plays an important role in learning and academic performance from early adolescence through university.
One of the studies, conducted by researchers from the University of California, Davis, analysed data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, the largest long-term study of brain development and child health in the US, to examine how sleep quality, screen time, physical activity, and diet influence the relationship between mental health symptoms and academic and social functioning among children aged 10 to 13.
Sleep emerged as the strongest lifestyle factor linked to better grades and fewer social problems, outperforming screen time, exercise, and diet. It accounted for 18.5 per cent of the association between depression and poorer academic performance, 36.3 per cent of the association with anxiety, and 8.3 per cent of the association with psychotic-like experiences. Screen time had the second-largest influence, while physical activity and diet contributed comparatively less.
The researchers said they had expected sleep to matter but were surprised that it emerged as a much stronger factor than other lifestyle habits, particularly screen time. They added that adolescence is a period when anxiety, depression, and other mental health conditions often develop, making healthy sleep routines a practical way to support children’s day-to-day functioning, although not a substitute for professional mental healthcare.
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Incentivising sleep
The second study, led by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of California San Diego, examined whether encouraging university students to sleep longer could improve academic outcomes.
The field experiment involved more than 1,100 students in the United States. At baseline, participants slept an average of 6.6 hours per night. Only 43 per cent met the recommended minimum of seven hours on weeknights, while more than 85 per cent failed to achieve that target on at least one school night each week.
Students received personalised bedtime reminders, morning feedback, and cash incentives of about $4.75 per night for sleeping at least seven hours, with sleep verified through Fitbit devices.
The intervention increased the share of nights in which students slept at least seven hours by 26 per cent, equivalent to about 19 additional minutes of sleep on weeknights. Even after the incentives ended, participants continued sleeping around eight minutes longer each night.
It was observed that students in the incentive group also earned 0.075 to 0.089 higher grade points during the semester, equivalent to an improvement of 0.10 to 0.11 standard deviations. The researchers said the gains were roughly double those reported for conventional financial-aid incentive programmes while costing less than one-quarter as much, suggesting that promoting healthy sleep could be a cost-effective way to improve academic outcomes.
The gains were greatest among first-year students, those enrolled in STEM courses, and students attending classes around mid-day. The intervention also reduced late-night screen use and encouraged students to shift studying from late evenings to mornings, although it did not significantly affect physical activity or end-of-semester mental health scores.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)
