A Study of the Relationship Between Sleep Duration and Short-Term Memory Retention Among High School Students of Ranchi District, Jharkhand

Sleep is an essential physiological process for learning, attention and memory, and adolescents in many parts of the world do not get enough sleep. The study investigated the sleep duration and the effect of short-term memory retention among high school students (Classes IX–XII) in the district of Ranchi of Jharkhand state. A cross-sectional correlational and comparative design was employed with a sample of 300 students (150 boys and 150 girls) who were selected using multistage stratified random sampling technique. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (Buysse et al., 1989) was used to measure sleep duration: a self-reported sleep diary and a sleep questionnaire were used. Short-term memory was measured using a 15-item delayed word-recall test and a digit span task. Short sleepers (< 6 hours), adequate sleepers (6–8 hours) and long sleepers (> 8 hours) were formed based on the participants. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation and one-way ANOVA with Tukey post hoc test. The mean sleep time was 6.84 hours (SD = 1.12) with 26% of students sleeping for less than six hours. Memory retention was moderately and positively related to sleep duration, r(298) = .52, p< .001. Memory scores were significantly different among sleep groups, F (2, 297) = 44.21, p < .001, η² = .23; the lowest scores were for the short sleepers. The implications for school times and sleep education and parental guidance are discussed.