Sleep Duration Is Associated with Academic Achievement of Adolescent Girls in Mathematics.

Purpose: To examine the associations between objective measures of sleep during the school week and academic achievement in mathematics and languages in typically developing adolescent girls.

Methods: Eighty adolescent girls aged 12-17 years (M=14.74, SD=1.3) participated. For five consecutive weeknights, sleep was assessed in the home environment using an actigraph. Academic achievement was assessed using report card grades.

Results: Girls who obtained on average less sleep than the recommended amount of 8 to 10 hrs per night had significantly lower grades in mathematics compared to girls who obtained the recommended amount (77.61 vs 86.16, respectively; η =0.11). Hierarchical regression analyses adjusted for age, pubertal status, and socioeconomic status revealed that longer average sleep time was significantly associated with higher grades in mathematics (=4.78, 95% CI [2.03,7.53]). No significant associations were found between sleep variables and grades in languages.

Conclusion: Longer average weekday sleep duration is associated with academic achievement of adolescent girls in mathematics.