Online Sleep Education for College Student's Sleep Health and Executive Functioning

August 10, 2026 updated by: Kiley Hawkins, Northern Arizona University

The Role of Sleep Education in Improving Sleep Quality, Executive Functioning, and Sleep Health Literacy

The goal of this clinical trial is to determine if asynchronous psychoeducational sleep intervention works to improve college students' levels of self-reported sleep health literacy, sleep quality, and executive functioning.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

Can an educational sleep intervention improve college students' sleep health literacy and sleep quality? Does improved sleep health literacy impact sleep quality? Does improved sleep improve executive functioning in a college student sample?

The hypotheses of the present study include the following:

  • College students with poor sleep quality will have lower executive functioning
  • College students who participate in a brief educational sleep intervention will have more improvements in sleep health literacy compared to college students who do not
  • College students who participate in a brief educational sleep intervention will have more improvements in sleep quality compared to college students who do not
  • College students who participate in a brief educational sleep intervention will have more improvements in executive functioning compared to college students who do not.

Researchers will compare the intervention group to a wait-list control group to see if college students who watch the psychoeducational sleep intervention have more improvements in sleep quality, sleep health literacy, and executive functioning than those who do not.

Participants will:

  • Complete a pre-intervention survey
  • Respond to a post-intervention survey six weeks after the pre-intervention survey
  • Be randomly assigned to watch a 30-to 45-minute psychoeducational sleep lecture video either during the pre-intervention survey or after the post-intervention survey

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

300

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

  • Name: Kiley D Hawkins, B.S.
  • Phone Number: 623-241-2334
  • Email: kh2874@nau.edu

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Be at least 18 years old
  • Be currently enrolled as an undergraduate student in a U.S. college or university
  • Have English language proficiency
  • Have internet access
  • Have an electronic device to complete an online survey

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Having a diagnosed sleep-wake disorder
  • Having a history of treatment for sleep difficulties

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Wait-List Control Group
The wait-list control group will not receive the 30-to 45-minute psychoeducational sleep lecture video prior to completing post-intervention surveys. Participants assigned to this arm will be granted access to the intervention at the conclusion of the post-intervention survey.
Experimental: Psychoeducational Sleep Intervention
Participants assigned to this arm will undergo a 30-to 45-minute psychoeducational sleep lecture video. This video will be embedded in the pre-intervention survey packet.
Behavioral: Psychoeducational Sleep Intervention
The present study uses a 30-to 45-minute psychoeducational sleep lecture that is tailored to college students. The lecture reviews topics such as sleep information, trends among college students, and consequences of poor sleep (e.g., on psychosocial, cognitive, and academic functioning). The lecture also includes information about sleep hygiene and stimulus control instructions to provide students with resources for implementing adaptive sleep hygiene behaviors that promote better sleep and functioning. This intervention will be embedded within the pre-intervention survey packet for participants who are randomly assigned to the intervention arm. Participants assigned to the no intervention arm will be granted access to the intervention at the conclusion of the post-intervention survey packet.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index
Time Frame: This will be administered at enrollment (pre-intervention), and again in 6-weeks (post-intervention)
This is a 19-item self-report questionnaire used to assess sleep quality, sleep onset latency, total duration, sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, use of sleep medications, and daytime dysfunction.
This will be administered at enrollment (pre-intervention), and again in 6-weeks (post-intervention)
Barkely Deficits in Executive Functioning-Short Form
Time Frame: This will be administered at enrollment (pre-intervention), and again in 6-weeks (post-intervention)
This is a 20-item self-report questionnaire that measures deficits in time management, organization, problem solving, self-restraint, self-motivation, and emotion regulation.
This will be administered at enrollment (pre-intervention), and again in 6-weeks (post-intervention)
Sleep Health Literacy Scale
Time Frame: This will be administered at enrollment (pre-intervention), and again in 6-weeks (post-intervention)
This is a 61-item self-report questionnaire used to measure sleep health communication and sleep health knowledge.
This will be administered at enrollment (pre-intervention), and again in 6-weeks (post-intervention)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Behavior Change Questions
Time Frame: This will be administered at enrollment (pre-intervention), and again in 6-weeks (post-intervention)
These are questions developed by the researcher to assess participants' perceptions of their sleep, knowledge of sleep and sleep hygiene, and their ability to manage day-to-day tasks. These questions will also inquire about specific behavioral/sleep hygiene changes participants intend to make and any barriers to implementing the changes.
This will be administered at enrollment (pre-intervention), and again in 6-weeks (post-intervention)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Northern Arizona University

Investigators

  • Study Chair: Marie-Christine Goodworth, PhD, Northern Arizona University
  • Principal Investigator: Kiley D Hawkins, B.S., Northern Arizona University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

September 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

December 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

May 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 10, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 10, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

August 14, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 14, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 10, 2026

Last Verified

August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2441114-2

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

IPD will not be shared to preserve participant confidentiality, as outlined in the informed consent document.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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