Time Spent on Private Tutoring and Sleep Patterns of Chinese Adolescents: Evidence from a National Panel Survey

In recent decades, there has been a marked increase in private tutoring and a decline in sleep health among adolescents. This study aimed to outline the association between time spent on private tutoring and sleep patterns of Chinese adolescents.

Participants were from a nationwide two-wave panel survey. We performed OLS regressions of sleep duration at wave 2 and Poisson regressions of sleep problems at wave 2 on tutoring time at wave 2, adjusting for baseline sleep duration and other covariates. Tutoring time was assessed by three items: daily hours of tutoring, daily hours of tutoring on weekdays, and daily hours of tutoring on weekends.

Overall, more time spent on private tutoring was associated with shorter sleep duration and more sleep problems. Furthermore, both weekday and weekend tutoring can have a positive effect on the number of sleep problems. With regard to sleep duration, weekend tutoring time played a negative role, while the effect of weekday tutoring time was negligible.

In the Chinese context, which is characterized by intense academic competition, participation in private tutoring plays a significant role in shaping students' sleep duration and sleep problems. To improve the sleep health of adolescents, the time spent on private tutoring should be carefully monitored and regulated.