Running head: PREVALENCE RATES OF SP AMONG AUC UNDERGRADS 1 Prevalence Rates of Sleep Paralysis among the AUC Undergraduate Students: An Investigation of A Hypothesized Relation Between Sleep Paralysis Occurrence Rates and Exam Days and The Eff

This study aimed at finding the prevalence rates of sleep paralysis among the undergraduates of the American University in Cairo. In addition, it tested a hypothesis that the AUC undergraduates will be more likely to experience sleep paralysis during exam days compared to normal days. Furthermore, it investigated whether there is a relation between sleep paralysis and academic performance or not. An online Google form survey was conducted and 170 undergraduate students from the AUC participated in the survey. It was found that 35 % of the participants experienced sleep paralysis at least once in their lives. Moreover, even though some participants did report experiencing sleep paralysis more often during or around exam days, sleep paralysis was in general not frequently occurring during exam days as hypothesized. Also, no correlation was found between sleep paralysis and academic performance. This study added to the knowledge available on sleep paralysis among college undergraduates which provides an increased understanding of the nature of sleep paralysis among university undergraduates. Further, it is one of the few studies which investigated the possibility of a correlation between sleep paralysis and academic performance