Academic performance among undergraduate students in Malaysia” prepared and submitted by “Eyven Phang Yee Man, Low Heng Xiang and Ng Jia Sheng” in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Bachelor of Social Science (Hons) Psychology is hereby accepted. Furthermore, there were inconsistent results on the gender difference in the relationship between sleep quality and stress on academic performance. Therefore, the present study aimed to examine the relationship between sleep quality and stress on academic performance among university students in Malaysia.
In addition, the present study was also conducted to investigate whether gender played a significant role in the relationship between sleep quality and stress on academic performance. The results indicated a significant, negative relationship with sleep quality, but no stress on academic performance. In addition, the results indicate that there was a negative, significant relationship between both sleep quality and stress on school performance in women.
The results revealed that sleep quality but not stress significantly predicted students' academic performance.
Introduction
- Problem Statement
- Research Objective
- Research Questions
- Hypothesis
- Definition of Terms .1 Conceptual Definition
- Significant of Study
Most undergraduate students are unaware that their sleep habits may be related to their academic performance (Azad et al., 2015; Elagra et al., 2016; Gilbert & Weaver, 2010). However, the conflicting results of Nihayah et al. 2011) the study found that hours of sleep would not affect the academic performance of undergraduate students in terms of their CGPA. It is essential for universities to understand and address the significant impact of stress on a student's academic performance (Gustems-Carnicer et al., 2019).
By doing this, undergraduate students will be able to learn how to reduce their stress levels, which will lead to an improvement in their academic performance (Elias et al., 2011). In our research, we found that Ahrberg et al. 2012) research is very similar to the current study. The researchers could only highlight a significant interaction between these variables (Ahrberg et al., 2012).
To investigate the relationship between sleep quality and stress on academic performance among undergraduate students.
Literature Review
- Sleep Quality
- Stress
- Sleep Quality and Academic Performance
- Stress and Academic Performance
- Relationship between Sleep Quality, Stress and Academic Performance
- Conceptual Framework
- Theoretical Framework
- Research Sample
- Research Instruments
- Research Procedure
- Pilot Study
- Data Analysis Plan
Also, the study reported that only 18.6% of students managed to sleep more than seven hours in the past month. In addition to the findings mentioned in Araújo et al. 2013) from the above study, other results showed that 41.7% of the participants claimed that they had not experienced nightmares. In contrast, Lai and Say's (2013) study provided results showing non-significant differences in terms of sleep quality between both male and female participants.
The example of academic stressors included the enormity of the academic courses, the absence of recreational activities and the feeling of fear of poor academic performance. The academic performance was measured by their results of the semester, which is grade point average (GPA), while stress was evaluated by College Undergraduate Stress Scale (CUSS). The result of the study showed that sleep quality and stress are significant predictors of academic performance.
Slow Wave Sleep (SWS) is also necessary for the growth and repair of the body (Dokie, n.d.). William James (1890) developed the brain plasticity theory, which suggests that sleep is correlated with changes in brain organization and structure. The main goal of the convenience sampling method is to collect data from participants that are easily accessible to researchers (Etikan et al., 2016).
In the research proposal, the researchers presented a topic of the associations between sleep quality, stress and academic performance among undergraduate students in Malaysia. Other than the participants' informed consent, the questionnaire consisted of the participants' demographic information, Sleep Quality Scale (SQS), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and also their Cumulative Grade Point Average. Moreover, the pilot test allows the researchers to review the steps and procedures of the actual research.
Therefore, the current researchers have conducted a pilot test to analyze the feasibility of the study itself. For the respondents of the pilot test, the researchers had recruited 30 students from universities in Malaysia. On average, each of the participants spent about 5 minutes completing the online survey form.
Regarding the result, the researchers tested the reliability and validity of the Sleep Quality Scale (SQS) and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) during the pilot test.
Result
Missing Data and Outlier Check
Descriptive Statistics Table 4.1
Pearson Product Moment Correlation Table 4.2
H4: There is a difference in stress with academic performance by gender among undergraduate students in Malaysia. Finally, Table 4.5 showed that stress and academic performance among men were found to have a non-significant, insignificant and negative correlation, r p = .329;.
Multiple Regression Analysis Table 4.6
Conclusion
In this chapter, we will discuss the answer to the research questions of the current study on (1) determining the relationship between sleep quality and academic performance among undergraduate students in Malaysia, (2) determining the relationship between stress and academic performance among undergraduate students in Malaysia, (3) determining the effect of gender on the relationship between sleep quality and academic performance and stress and academic performance among undergraduate students in Malaysia, (4) to determine whether sleep quality or stress will be significantly associated with academic performance among undergraduate students in Malaysia. In addition, both theoretical and practical implications of the current study and recommendations for future studies were included in this chapter.
Discussion
Furthermore, research by Alqudah et al. 2019) identified students who see themselves as poor sleepers as likely to experience problems with insomnia. In addition, an interview session conducted by Datta et al. 2018) study also confirmed the findings in this research. Apart from that, Datta et al. 2018) research revealed 72.4% of students who reported sleepiness during the day experienced significantly more struggles during the test than 51.7% of students who claimed to be non-sleepy.
Later, they will have reduced perceived stress as they move into the midterm and move forward at the end of the semester. The study described that students faced more stress when they were in the middle and at the end of the semester. Therefore, the discrepancy between the time they registered for their current semester may cause them to feel different levels of stress.
Apart from that, Ganesan et al. 2018) research reported that coping techniques were significantly inversely related to stress. The prediction was that most of the respondents could choose adaptive coping techniques while managing their stress. Although the results of the current research were the opposite of Lai and Say's (2013) study, there was still literature that encountered similar findings with this research (Toscano-Hermoso et al., 2020; Salmani et al., 2020).
In the work of Toscano-Hermoso et al. 2020), the researchers indicated that women were significantly more at risk of reporting poor sleep quality than men. Other than that, Salmani et al. 2020) study also confirmed that women experiencing poor sleep quality, such as sleep disorders, significantly affect their academic performance. Next, based on Verma et al. 2011) study, it revealed that men and women clearly respond to stress in terms of a.
Then, a past study by Monteiro et al. 2014) revealed that female undergraduates were more likely to wishful thinking rather than use problem-focused strategies than male undergraduates. 2017) found that different genders adopt different types of stress management techniques differently and significantly. Additionally, a study conducted by Scott et al. 2019) explained that undergraduate students may have faced considerable stress.
Implications of the Study .1 Theoretical Implication
Therefore, from time to time, the university could organize a sleep hygiene awareness campaign to emphasize the importance of sleep hygiene for a satisfying sleep and academic performance. Meanwhile, it is also proposed to organize sleep hygiene workshops to further explain how sleep hygiene can be put into practice to achieve better sleep quality and thus improve their academic performance. Moreover, the current research has also created self-awareness and self-reflection among the students in Malaysia as they complete the survey.
Realizing their current sleep quality can increase their awareness and thus lead to behavior change to get better sleep quality as all behavior change starts with an awareness and intention to change.
Limitations
Additionally, another limitation of the current study is the measurement, which is self-reported questionnaires. Regarding the limitations of self-reported questionnaires, it could be argued that the importance of CGPA is entirely. However, the possibility of undergraduate students being dishonest may be impossible since they participate voluntarily and anonymously in this study.
Another potential limitation is that the target participants of the current research may also be affected by CGPA from participants coming from different universities. According to the Public Service Commission of Malaysia (n.d), the CGPA calculations for each university in Malaysia may differ from each other. In addition, undergraduate students of different universities can have a large difference in sleep quality and stress levels.
Therefore, it could affect the accuracy of the result of the current study as the participants come from different universities in Malaysia. On the other hand, a possible limitation of this study is that the number of females in the sample was higher than males. The large gender difference could have affected the result, as the current study looked at the gender difference between sleep quality and stress and academic performance.
Recommendations
Conclusion
Association between poor sleep quality, excessive daytime sleepiness and low academic performance in medical students. Perceived stress and its association with positive mental health and academic performance in students. Long weekend sleep is associated with stronger academic performance in male pharmacy students, but not female students.
An exploratory study of students' weekly stress levels and sources of stress during the semester. The effect of sleep deprivation on academic performance and cognitive functions among college students: A cross-sectional study. The relationship between perceived stress level, sleep quality and academic performance among students of a Caribbean medical school.
