Advisers

Jonalyn Carasco

Discipline

Psychology

Abstract

Sleep is vital for overall well-being, yet many college students, especially athletes and ACAEX scholars, experience sleep deprivation due to academic demands and training schedules. This lack of sleep can lead to increased stress, poor concentration, emotional instability, and reduced performance. Guided by the Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping by Richard Lazarus and Susan Folkman, this study examines how these students manage stress caused by insufficient sleep by identifying sleep-related factors, coping strategies, and stress levels to support better well-being and performance. This study used a quantitative descriptive design to examine how athletes and ACAEX scholars cope with stress from sleep deprivation. The participants were 100 college students from Bestlink College of the Philippines (AY 2025–2026), evenly split between 50 student-athletes and 50 ACAEX scholars aged 18 and above, selected through purposive sampling. Four researcher-developed instruments—a demographic questionnaire, Sleep Quality and Duration Questionnaire, Coping Strategies Questionnaire, and Perceived Stress Questionnaire—were used, all validated and pilot-tested for clarity and reliability. The study found that most athletes and ACAEX scholars, aged 20–22 and mostly male, slept 4–6 hours per night, with some getting less than 4 hours and few reaching 7–8 hours. Academic workload, training, and gadget use disrupted sleep, while students used time management, social support, healthy habits, naps, and relaxation to cope, though these were not always effective. Stress levels were moderate to high, affecting mood, concentration, and performance. Overall, sleep deprivation was common and negatively impacted their psychological, emotional, and physical well-being. Most participants were aged 20–22 years and predominantly male, with equal representation of athletes and ACAEX scholars. Many respondents slept only 4–6 hours per night because of academic workloads, training schedules, fixed timetables, and gadget use. Although they used coping strategies such as time management, sleep planning, and limiting caffeine, these strategies were not always sufficient to prevent sleep deprivation. Overall, sleep deprivation was prevalent in both groups because of combined academic and training demands.

Keywords

coping strategies, Well-Being, Performance, Sleep Deprivation, Stress, ACAEX Scholars, Athletes, Academic Workload Management Balance