Rest, Risk, and Routine: Understanding Sleep Health, Time Commitments, and Other Health Behaviors of Community College Students Across Alabama

Emerging adulthood is associated with more autonomy and new responsibilities, which influence risky health behaviors and time commitments. Community college students are at an elevated risk of poor health habits, like insufficient sleep, and more risky health behaviors, like substance use. This, in part, could be due to increased financial instability, stress, and limited leisure time based on their time demands (i.e., employment, commuting, limited access to resources, and family caregiving or childrearing). Yet, despite this, community college students are often understudied compared to their four-year university peers. This study focused on understanding the sleep health, time commitments, and other health behaviors of community college students within Alabama. Students from two-year community colleges (N = 36) completed online self-report measures and individual semi-structured interviews via Zoom. Mixed-methods analyses were utilized. Descriptives, correlational analyses, and chi-square tests were run to examine the associations between demographics, sleep, substance use, and time commitments. Thematic analyses assessed the qualitative themes discussed during interviews. Findings indicate 57.2% of the sample endorsed poor sleep health, with 97.1% reporting poor global sleep quality, 62.7% reporting short sleep duration of less than 7 hours per night, and over 60% reported fair or poor sleep regularity. Most students (70.6%) endorsed mild alcohol use, 55.9% endorsed regular (weekly or daily) tobacco use, and 23.6% endorsed regular marijuana use. Students described using substances for relaxation, habit, or social engagement rather than sleep-related concerns; however, 33.3% of participants endorsed using substances for sleep onset and 19.5% endorsed using substances to stay awake. Although multiple time demands outside of class were reported (i.e., work, school, childrearing), students also endorsed adequate leisure time of 5+ hours per day but described poor time management. Most students believed a hybrid behavioral sleep health intervention or seminar would be beneficial. Overall, students are limited in their knowledge about proper sleep and other health behaviors as well as available resources on campus. Thus, future studies should focus on offering psychoeducation about health behaviors and time management to community college students to improve overall success.