Samband och könsskillnader i självskattade sömnsvårigheter, stress och minnessvårigheter hos universitetsstudenter

Sammanfattning: Sleep difficulties are a widespread problem that is often caused by high stress and can have negative consequences for many functions such as memory difficulties. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate gender differences between self-rated sleep difficulties, perceived stress and everyday life memory difficulties in university students. Furthermore, associations betweenself-rated sleep difficulties, stress and memory difficulties were investigated. To answer the research questions, three validated questionnaires were used regarding sleep difficulties measured with Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), perceived stress measured with Percevied Stress Scale (PSS) and memory difficulties measured with Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire (PRMQ). The survey was completed by 99 students at Luleå University of Technology, of which 88 answers (50 women and 38 men) were included in the analysis. The results showed that there were differences between women and men regarding perceived stress, where women reported higher levels of stress. Furthermore, the results showed positive associations between self-reported sleep difficulties and stress, as well as stress and self-reported memory difficulties. In a multiple regression analysis, perceived stress was the only factor associated with memory difficulties. In conclusion, the study showed that women experienced more stress than men, that stress and sleep are strongly correlated, and that stress was the only factor associated with memory difficulties in everyday life in university students.