Daily relations between nap occurrence, duration, and timing and nocturnal sleep patterns in college students

Sleep patterns change during college, and students may nap to compensate for lost sleep. Despite the increased prevalence of napping among students, few studies have investigated daily relations between napping and nocturnal sleep, as well as how timing of naps and nocturnal sleep might influence one another. The present study used daily diaries to capture the occurrence, timing, and duration of napping and relation to nocturnal sleep.

Daily diary data, collected for 4-7 days, from 654 college students from a mid-sized midwestern university (81.5% female).

Participants reported nightly sleep durations, bedtimes, and wake times as well as nap durations and nap start times.

Multilevel modeling (MLM) and multi-level logistic regressions revealed bidirectional relations between nocturnal sleep and napping. Regarding nocturnal sleep and its relation to next day napping, nocturnal sleep (including shorter duration and later bedtime) was associated with increased odds of napping and longer napping the following day. Shorter sleep duration was also associated with taking an earlier nap, while later bedtime was associated with a later nap the following day. Regarding napping and its association with same-night nocturnal sleep, taking a nap was associated with longer sleep duration that night, however, later nap start times and longer nap durations were associated with later bedtimes that night.

Findings provide evidence for bidirectional associations between napping and nocturnal sleep. Future studies are needed to explore how naps could be optimized to promote nocturnal sleep among college students, as well as for whom naps might be most beneficial.