Social conversation and its relationship to sleep behavior among college students

Sleep health is compromised during the college years; college students have shortened sleep duration and often keep inconsistent sleep schedules. One strong predictor that has been identified in previous research on college student sleep is dysfunctional beliefs like worry and perceived lack of control. Less understood are the contributing factors to these dysfunctional beliefs. This paper draws on a social science perspective to examine how college students talk about sleep and how these conversations relate to beliefs and intentions to sleep. In a 2-step mixed-methods design, this study explores conversations among college students about sleep and how these conversations relate to sleep-related cognitions and behaviors (n=301). College students report frequently talking about sleep-damaging topics (staying up late, daytime sleepiness), and this discussion is associated with lower cognitive beliefs about behavioral control and lower intention to sleep. Regression results show a negative relationship between sleep behaviors and sleep-damaging conversations (β=-0.41; P<.001). Perceived control over sleep patterns was strongly associated with sleep behavior (β=0.46; P<.001), and evidence was found that this belief might partially mediate the relationship between sleep-damaging talk and behavior. Implications for sleep education and promotion efforts on college campuses are offered.