Small increases in sleep improve grades
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By Cynthia Lee, ŗ«¹śĀćĪč Newsroom
āFamily and community involvement key in empowering students to make healthier choices regarding their sleep
Elementary school-age children who improved their sleep habits also improved in their academic performance, according to a study by researchers at ŗ«¹śĀćĪč and the Douglas Mental Health University Institute in partnership with the Riverside School Board in Montreal.
Using a collaborative approach, called Community-based Participatory Research (CBPR), the team developed a program in conjunction with educators using experiential learning to provide students with competencies needed for real-world success by addressing real-world problems and situations through teacher directed and facilitated learning. āWe found that cumulative average extension of five nights Ć 18.2 min = 91 min in total had a significant impact on report card gradesā, says ŗ«¹śĀćĪč professor and lead researcher Reut Gruber.
The method
Six interactive classes, two hour sessions, given over a six-week period, were offered during school time by the studentsā homeroom teachers.
Gruberās research team, in collaboration with Gail Somerville from Riverside School Board in Saint-Hubert, Quebec, studied 74 healthy children between 7 and 11 years of age.Ā
Selected materials
Materials were tailored to the childās level, for example, here is a video for the Cycle 1 (Grades 1 and 2) group:
Parents attached the actiwatch to the childās non-dominant wrist at bedtime for four weeknights and provided their childās most recent report card. They kept a diary of their childās daily bedtime and wake time (sleep log) during the same period.
Worth the effort
Participation in the program yielded improvements in sleep and report card grades. Specifically, participation in the intervention was associated with improved grades in English and mathematics.
The takeaway for parents
- Small cumulative sleep extension may lead to improved academic performance
- Parents are advised to ensure their children get sufficient amount of healthy sleep every night.
The takeaway for schools
- Re-evaluate how to encourage integration of sleep education programs to the health curriculum
School-based Sleep Education Program Improves Sleep and Academic Performance, by Reut Gruber, Gail Somerville, Paul Enros, Lana Bergameme, Laura Fontil and Soukina Paquin is published in the journal Sleep Medicine: 10.1016/j.sleep.2016.01.012
Previous research from Prof. Gruberās lab: link
To contact Prof. Gruber directly: reut [dot] gruber [at] mcgill [dot] ca (reut [dot] gruber [at] mcgill [dot] ca)