Skip to content
Contact USI

Freshman survey indicates sleep and mental health factors affecting performance

September 29, 2017

Freshman year in college can be both an exciting and anxiety-provoking time for students. To measure some of the challenges our newest students face, Catherine Champagne, assistant program director of Student Wellness, and Dr. Kat Draughon, chief data officer, worked together to survey USI freshmen using the National College Health Assessment survey through the American College Health Association. The goal was to gather heath behavior information to both understand the general health of our student population and to use the data to guide programming and education initiatives for areas of need. 359 students responded, of which 83 percent were female. Following are some of the findings concerning sleep and mental health:

Academic Impacts

Within a 12-month span, students reported these issues as affecting their academic performance (receiving a lower grade on an assignment or class, receiving an incomplete/dropping a course or experiencing significant disruption in their classwork.

Stress

  22%

Anxiety

  20%

Sleep difficulties

  15%

Depression

   7%

Cold/flu/sore throat

   7%

Concern for a troubled friend or family member

   6%

Homesickness

   6%


Mental Health

 Students reported experiencing the following anytime within a 12-month period

Overwhelmed by all they had to do

  85%

Exhausted, not from physical activity

  78%

Very sad

  62%

Very lonely

  59%

Overwhelming anxiety

  58%

Feeling hopeless

  46%

Overwhelming anger

  38%

Depression making it difficult to function

  33%

Contemplated suicide

   9%

Intentional self-harm

   7%


Sleep

Students reported feeling tired, dragged out or sleepy during the day in a seven-day period:

29% one or two days out of a week
45% three to five days out of a week
19% six to seven days a week

The entire report covered nine data points including general health; disease and injury prevention; academic impacts; violence, abusive relationships and personal safety; alcohol and drug use; sexual behavior; nutrition and fitness; mental health; and sleep.

To discuss additional results contact Catherine Champagne at cchampagne@usi.edu.

Recent Stories