Sleep and Stress Level of College Students Developing a Health Promotion Intervention: Get Fruved Study

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine sleep hours (SH) and perceived stress (PS) levels in college students. Freshmen, sophomore, junior and senior college students (n=280) from four land-grant, public universities (Florida, South Dakota, Tennessee and West Virginia) where enrolled in the “Get Fruved” research study and trained via two multi-university courses. In the courses, the students worked with researchers and Extension Professionals to develop a peer-led, social marketing and environmental change intervention at each of their respective campuses. Baseline assessments included behavioral (SH and PS) and demographic characteristics (including age, race/ethnicity, residing on/off campus, # hours working, relationship status, GPA, student athlete status, financial aid). SD was determined by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; PS via Cohen Perceived Stress Scale. Demographic differences in SD and PS were evaluated by one-way ANOVA. SD (x=7.3±1.1) differed between universities (