title: Sleep characteristics, sleep problems, and associations of self-efficacy among German university students.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Sleep problems, especially insomnia, are a common complaint among adults. International studies on university students have shown prevalence rates between 4.7% and 36.2% for sleep difficulties, and 13.1% and 28.1% for insomnia. Sleep problems are associated with lower social and academic performance and can have a severe impact on psychological and physical health.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The goal of this study was to outline sleep characteristics, prevalence of sleep problems, insomnia, and associations with self-efficacy among German university students.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 2196 university students (70.9% women; mean age 24.16 years) participated in the study. Sleep characteristics, sleep problems, insomnia, and self-efficacy were assessed using a questionnaire.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Analyses revealed that more than 16% of surveyed students needed more than 30 minutes to fall asleep. About 7.7% of the students suffered from insomnia. Short sleep was significantly associated with a considerably increased rate of insomnia (20%). Insomniacs showed lower self-efficacy than students without sleep problems.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science, Department of Psychology, University of Tübingen, Germany ; Faculty of Psychology, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany.
authors.forename: Angelika A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Schlarb
authors.forename: Dominika
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kulessa
authors.forename: Marco D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Gulewitsch
keywords: insomnia; self-efficacy; sleep characteristics; sleep problems; university students