Sleep regularity important for well-being of college students

Are you one of those college students who stay up for long hours at night? And then have a bitter mood all day long.

We might have some important news for you.

According to a recent study, higher sleep regularity was significantly related to higher morning and evening happiness, healthiness and calmness during the week.

The study was published in journal Sleep.

The research found that transitioning from an irregular weekly sleep pattern to a regular pattern also was associated with improved well-being, both during the week of regular sleep and on the day following it.

"We found that week-long irregular sleep schedules are significantly associated with lower self-reported morning and evening happiness, healthiness, and calmness during the week even after controlling for weekly average sleep duration," noted lead author Akane Sano, PhD, research scientist in the Media Lab Affective Computing Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge.

The research involved 204 college students between the ages of 18 and 25 years who participated in a 30-day field study.

Sleep timing and duration were monitored using actigraphy, along with daily morning and evening Internet-based diaries.

"Irregular sleep-wake schedules are common in our modern society. Our results indicate the importance of sleep regularity, in addition to sleep duration, and that regular sleep is associated with improved well-being," noted Sano.

According to the authors, this study underlines the necessity of considering sleep regularity as an important factor for understanding self-reported well-being.