EXAMINING PREVALENCE OF INSOMNIA AND PREDICTORS OF SLEEP QUALITY AMONG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

Abstract

Poor sleep is highly prevalent among university students, yet it is rarely assessed systematically or addressed through early intervention. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of insomnia within a non-clinical sample of Malaysian undergraduate students and to examine the predictive roles of sleep hygiene, daytime sleepiness and maladaptive sleep beliefs on sleep quality. Using a cross-sectional survey design, 220 undergraduate students (74.1% female, mean age = 21.6 years) completed a set of self-report questionnaires assessing sleep hygiene, insomnia severity, sleepiness, sleep quality and demographic information including self-reported height and weight. Pearson correlation analysis was conducted to examine relationships among variables and hierarchical multiple regression was used to examine predictors of sleep quality. Results showed that 70% of participants were classified as poor sleepers, with an average Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index score of 7.44. Sub-threshold insomnia was reported by 41.8% of participants, while 35.5% and 2.7% of reported moderate and severe clinical insomnia, respectively. Poor sleep quality was significantly associated with insomnia severity (r = .56), poor sleep hygiene (r = .41), daytime sleepiness (r = .13), maladaptive sleep beliefs (r = .19), and body mass index (r = .19). Among these factors, sleep hygiene was the strongest predictor of sleep quality in this sample (β = .198, p = .003). The findings indicate the need for early intervention, such as sleep education promoting healthy sleep hygiene given the high prevalence of as sub-threshold insomnia among students with poor sleep quality. Future research should explore within-person relationships between daily sleep hygiene behaviours and sleep quality.