Sleep as a mediator of the relationship between social class and health in higher education students

Romany McGuffog; Mark Rubin; Mark Boyes; Marie L Caltabiano; James Collison; Geoff P Lovell; Orla Muldoon; Stefania Paolini

doi:10.1111/bjop.12645

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Sleep as a mediator of the relationship between social class and health in higher education students

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Sleep as a mediator of the relationship between social class and health in higher education students

Romany McGuffog, Mark Rubin, Mark Boyes, Marie L Caltabiano, James Collison, Geoff P Lovell, Orla Muldoon and Stefania Paolini

British Journal of Psychology, Vol.114(3), pp.710-730

2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12645

PMCID: PMC10952763

PMID: 36891968

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Abstract

sleep

mediation

physical health

mental health

social class

A substantial body of research indicates that higher education students from lower social class backgrounds tend to have poorer health than those from higher social class backgrounds. To investigate sleep as a potential mediator of this relationship, online survey responses of students from five large Australian universities, one Irish university and one large Australian technical college were analysed in three studies (Study 1 N = 628; Study 2 N = 376; Study 3 N = 446). The results revealed that sleep quality, sleep duration, sleep disturbances, pre sleep worries and sleep schedule variability mediated the relationship between social class and physical and mental health. Sleep remained a significant mediator when controlling for related variables and other mediators. Thus, the findings suggest that sleep partly explains social class differences in health. We discuss the importance of addressing sleep issues among students from lower social class backgrounds.

Details

Title: Sleep as a mediator of the relationship between social class and health in higher education students
Authors: Romany McGuffog (Corresponding Author) - University of Newcastle Australia
Mark Rubin (Author) - University of Newcastle Australia
Mark Boyes (Author) - Curtin University
Marie L Caltabiano (Author) - James Cook University
James Collison (Author) - Australian College of Applied Psychology
Geoff P Lovell (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Legacy
Orla Muldoon (Author) - University of Limerick
Stefania Paolini (Author) - University of Newcastle Australia
Publication details: British Journal of Psychology, Vol.114(3), pp.710-730
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Date published: 2023
DOI: 10.1111/bjop.12645
ISSN: 2044-8295
PMID: 36891968; PMC10952763
Copyright note: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2023 The Authors. British Journal of Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The British Psychological Society.
Grants: Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship, RTP, Department of Education (Australia, Canberra)
Mental health in children with dyslexia: Identifying predictors of emotional and behavioural problems and testing a mental health promotion intervention, 1173043, National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia, Canberra) - NHMRC
Grant note: 1050313 / Professor Daphne Keats Philanthropic donation
Organisation Unit: Tropical Forests and People Research Centre; Forest Research Institute; School of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Legacy
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99712498502621
Output Type: Journal article

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