SLEEP QUALITY AND STRESS: GENDER  DIFFERENCES

Qualidade  do sono e estresse: diferenças entre os gêneros

Gema  Mesquita1, Evelise Aline Soares2, Miriam Monteiro de Castro Graciano3, Patricia Costa dos Santos da Silva4, Claudia Umbelina Baptista Andrade5, Rubens Reimão6                                                                                                                                                                                             

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: The aim is to assess  the relationship among  the variables school performance (grades  and absences),  stress, and sleep quality in a group of adolescent  high-school students. METHOD: a cross-sectional, descriptive study involving 160 adolescents  of both genders, aged 15-18 y, studying at high school in the city of Alfenas, Minas Gerais  State, Brazil, was conducted.  Data collection used the following instruments: 1) Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI); 2) Lipp’s Stress Symptoms Inventory for Adults (LSSI);  3) Student school reports. RESULTS: The study sample comprised 65.63% female subjects. Mean school performance was 0.64 for the female group (F) and  0.60 for the male group (M), p = 0.04. Mean  number of absences  were 28.1 (F)  and  30.3 (M), p = 0.7440. Concerning  stress symptoms, 65.71% (F) and 29.09% (M) were  classified as stressed whereas  34.29% (F) and  70.91% (M) reported no stress symptoms (p < 0.001). Quality of sleep scores were 6.0  (F) and  5.3  (M), p = 0.27, while 68.57% (F) and  61.82% (M) reported poor sleep on the sleep classification. CONCLUSION: Female subjects had higher grades  overall and greater diligence in school activities but reported more stress symptoms and worse sleep quality.