Characterizing psychiatric hypersomnia on campus: contributions of chronotype, insomnia, and tiredness

Study Objectives: The sleep of students contains several features rendering it worthy of independent investigation. Sleep duration is an important aspect of sleep health and wellbeing, however the assessment of psychiatric hypersomnia has been hampered by the absence of a single unitary scale of this construct. With the recent publication of the Hypersomnia Severity Index, research can now examine this condition in greater detail. Methods: Here we consider how the candidate variables of sleep propensity, fatigue, chronotype and insomnia may be associated with hypersomnia scores in a sample of 140 students. Results suggest that hypersomnia was significantly predicted by these measures, but not age or gender. We then model a pathway from chronotype to hypersomnia, including these factors as potential mediators. Results: Results suggest that hypersomnia was significantly predicted by these measures, but not age or gender. The proposed pathway from chronotype to hypersomnia warrants further study. Conclusions: Future studies should expand upon this preliminary report and consider longitudinally and prospectively how hypersomnia is linked to poor mental health in well-characterized samples of students and other young adults.