***Content Warning*** This study involves discussing sensitive topics, including sleep quality, stress levels, and academic performance. If engaging with these topics may cause distress or negatively impact your mental health, we advise you not to participate. Your well-being is our priority.

Title of Study: Investigating the relationship between Sleep Quality, Stress and Academic Performance among University Students

We are inviting you to take part in a research study. Before you decide, it is important that you know why we are doing the study and what is involved. Please read the following information carefully.

The purpose of this study is to look at the connection between university students' academic achievement, stress levels, and sleep quality. The main research question being addressed is: In what ways can stress levels and sleep quality affect academic performance? This research is potentially valuable to participants as numerous university students have considerable stress and sleep disturbances, which can impact their academic performance and overall well-being. The goal of the study is to better understand these variables in order to develop solutions that can assist students in achieving better academic results and general mental health.

The study will engage participants from a wide range of backgrounds. Participants will be asked to answer questionnaires on stress, sleep quality and academic performance.

You are eligible to participate if you are presently enrolled at any UK university as an undergraduate or postgraduate student, above the age of 18, and you speak English well enough to be able to comprehend the questions and give informed consent.

If you have a diagnosis of a neurological problem that may impair sleep quality, chronic medical conditions like diabetes, or sleep disorders like insomnia or sleep apnea, you are not eligible to take part. This is because medication that affects mental health or sleep, including antidepressants or sedatives, will potentially alter the results. If you are currently undergoing treatment for severe psychological disorders we would also ask you not to take part in order to minimize the impact of external psychological factors that could affect the results, allowing for a clearer assessment of the natural interactions between stress and sleep.

Participation is completely voluntary. You should only take part if you want to and choosing not to take part will not disadvantage you in anyway.

Once you have read this information sheet, if you are unsure about any aspect of this research, you are welcome to contact the researcher or their supervisor and discuss your queries. Further contact details are provided at the end of this form.

If you decide you would like to take part in the study, in the next step you will be asked to provide electronic consent via a form with a tick box declarations. You can then begin completing the online survey. This will take about 35 minutes to complete, and it involves filling out self-report questionnaires including demographics, levels of perceived stress, sleep quality, and academic performance. These include standardized questionnaires such as the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Perceived Stress Scale and Academic Performance Scale. At the end of the online survey, you will be presented with an electronic debrief form with further details about the study and the contact details of the researchers and relevant support organizations.

You will not be paid to participate in the study. However, if you are a psychology student at the University of Lincoln you can receive three SONA points; these can only be awarded for complete participation.

Participating in this research could have some small benefits for you, such as helping you to think about and understand your own stress levels and sleep habits. Your involvement will also further research in this field, which could result in better techniques and treatments for stress management and better sleep quality for students in higher education.

There are no significant risks connected to taking part. It's important to remember that while the main goal of the study is to investigate the connections between stress, academic performance, and sleep quality, we are unable to predict the precise results of the investigation. In order to reduce any potential discomfort, you are free to leave the study at any time if you feel uncomfortable. Furthermore, all responses will be pseudo-anonymous and the researchers will not be able to identify you as an individual.

The information we collect will be handled confidentially, ensuring that no one will know you have taken part in the study. Your responses are pseudo-anonymous (as the SONA credit system we use links to student SONA accounts, although researchers do not have access to this information and so cannot identify participants directly), and all data will be stored securely to protect your privacy. Only the research team will have access to the data, and any published results will not include identifying information as we will not collect any, ensuring your participation remains completely private.

The data obtained from the study will be stored securely on the University OneDrive in password-protected files. Only the researchers will have access to it. The data from this study may be put in an Open Access repository for other researchers to use in future research.

You have the right to withdraw from the study at any time, simply by closing the tab on your browser. However, as you have completed the study anonymously, it will not be possible to remove the data provided, as we will not be able to identify you in any way.

The research study's findings will be analysed and written up as part of a report to fulfil the requirements of a master's or doctoral thesis.  Within six months of the end of data collecting, we hope to publish the results in an academic journal that is subject to peer review. The results obtained from this study could potentially be presented at scholarly conferences in order to disseminate the knowledge acquired.

This research is being organised by Khansa Khalid at the University of Lincoln.

All research conducted by the University of Lincoln is looked at by an independent group of people, called a Research Ethics Committee, to protect your interests. This study has been reviewed and given favourable opinion by a University of Lincoln Research Ethics Committee (Reference number: 2024_19817).

It is very unlikely that this study would cause you any harm. If you have a concern or a complaint about any aspect of this study, you should ask to speak to the researchers who will do their best to answer your questions.  The researchers contact details are given at the end of this information sheet.

If you remain unhappy and wish to complain formally, you can make a formal complaint through the University complaints procedure or by contacting ethics@lincoln.ac.uk.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised by taking part in this study the following organisations may be able to provide help and advice:

University of Lincoln Student Services: Health and Wellbeing – Student Services (lincoln.ac.uk) 

Phone: 01522 886400; Email: wellbeing@lincoln.ac.uk  

A confidential support service for University of Lincoln students. 

If you are a student from another university, please contact your university health and wellbeing service. 

The National Sleep Helpline: 03303 530 541

A confidential service provided by the Sleep Charity offering support to people experiencing sleep difficulties.

Samaritans: www.samaritans.org  

Phone: 116 123 

A free, 24/7 confidential support service that offers emotional support to individuals who are experiencing distress or struggling with mental health challenges. 

Khansa Khalid

Dr Simon Durrant

Dr Matina Tsiora