Investigating the Predictors of Sleep Paralysis Frequency Within the University Population: Hierarchical Regression Model

Abstract

Sleep Paralysis (SP) is disproportionally present in the student population and a common symptom of SP is fear, this study examined the predictors of SP in the university student population. Based on pervious findings, there is a large disparity between SP experienced in the general population and the university student population and limited research on sleep paralysis predictors in students. This study planned to close the gap as to what student-related behaviors and environmental factors are causing this dissimilarity in SP. This large disparity in SP experience was hypothesized to be related to substance use, irregular sleeping behaviors, poor sleep environments and other lifestyle variables. We investigated this by studying a) the group comparisons between high SP experiencers and low SP experiencers, b) correlations between common student behaviors and SP, c) and a hierarchical regression model to find what behaviors most predicted SP in university students, all while controlling for demographics and sleep quality. This study was a retrospective online survey with 145 university students around the country, recruited primary with Reddit and Facebook sleep and student-related groups. The results showed that napping and family history of SP were significant predictors of SP frequency when controlled by sleep quality and demographics. This suggests that the more a student naps, the more frequent SP experiences a student will have, and students that have a family history of SP are more prone to increased SP. The findings produce clinical implications for future studies on classifying recurrent sleep paralysis in the university student population.