Jc. Savis et al., A SUBJECTIVE MEANS OF ASSESSING COLLEGE ATHLETES SLEEP - A MODIFICATION OF THE MORNINGNESS EVENINGNESS QUESTIONNAIRE/, International journal of sport psychology, 28(2), 1997, pp. 157-171
One hundred and twelve college students (mean age = 19.6 yrs.) complet
ed a modification of Smith, Reilly, and Midkiff's (1983) Morningness/E
veningness (M/E) survey. Subjects were students in an introductory spo
rt psychology class, and more than half were Division I athletes (65 v
s. 47 non-athletes). Gender was equally distributed with 53 males and
53 females in the study. The average score for all subjects on the M/E
survey was 33.06, with the mean score for competitive collegiate athl
etes and non-athletes at 33.87 and 31.92, respectively This difference
was Not significant (p greater than or equal to .05). A main effect f
or gender was not found. In addition to the 13 items from Smith and co
lleagues (1989), all athletes in this sample answered 10 additional qu
estions generated by the authors, specific to athletic competition. A
mixed 3x2 ANOVA (condition by gender) revealed that there was a signif
icant decrease in competitive collegiate athletes' self report of hour
s of sleep one night before competition versus usual amount of nightly
sleep (p < .001). Also sleep amount was significantly less than usual
two nights before competition (p < .001). Athletes also reported fact
ors that influence their sleep. Findings revealed that the sleep of th
ese athletes varies significantly dependent upon athletic competition.
Many factors may explain this, with pre-competitive anxiety one likel
y factor. This expanded version of the M/E survey offers a valuable, n
on-invasive means of increasing the athlete's awareness of his/her sle
ep patterns and the influence that pre-competitive sleep may exert on
performance.