74% students have poor sleep quality: Research

Research shows 37% of interviewed middle school students sleep more than seven hours, and 25% sleep fewer than six hours. Students who cannot fall asleep within 30 minutes more than three times weekly constitute 20% of respondents.

The Sheng Kung Hui Macau Social Services Coordination Office conducted a survey from November 2022 to January and collected 1,583 valid responses.

The survey shows average sleep quality is rated at 7.77 points; over 74% of students scored higher than 5 points for their sleep quality, which means poor sleep quality. However, 70% of the interviewees rated themselves as having high or relatively high-quality sleep, which shows people’s recognition of their own sleep or health quality may be inconsistent with their real conditions.

Of interviewed junior high school students, 47.5% sleep seven hours, while for senior high school students the proportion is 24.1%.

Of the interviewed students, 30% to 50% suffered severe or extremely severe anxiety, and 19% felt depressed. Pressures come from academic performance, family and peers, the survey showed, adding that intermediate school students reported better emotional conditions than senior high school students.

The level of anxiety, depression, stress and sleep quality are correlated. People with family pressures and who lack an exercise habit have the worst sleep quality and emotional conditions.

“Friends” are most often chosen as the people to talk to when interviewees feel pressure, making up 70.4% of the total, while “parents” and “classmates” only make up 27% and 26.1%, respectively. Some teenagers said friends are the ones who truly understand them; they think sharing their worries with teachers or tutors will “make things seem severe.”

The survey results show the sleep quality of middle school students is related to depression, anxiety and stress. It is advised to adopt meditation or brief rest intervals in schools, increase the monitoring mechanisms for the mental health of the adolescent population, and create resources for emotional education.

Staff Reporter