Movement behaviors, sleep quantity, and academic performance in university sport sciences students: a cross-sectional accelerometry-based study

Serafín Gil-Becerra; José López-Aguilar; Laura Ramírez-Pérez; Manuel García-Sillero; Rocío Martín-Valero; Noelia Moreno-Morales

doi:10.15561/20755279.2026.0501

Authors

Serafín Gil-Becerra European University of Andalusia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2532-5760
José López-Aguilar University School of Osuna https://orcid.org/0009-0009-1986-5657
Laura Ramírez-Pérez University of Málaga https://orcid.org/0009-0002-9852-6053
Manuel García-Sillero European University of Andalusia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3022-9151
Rocío Martín-Valero University of Málaga https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1664-3647
Noelia Moreno-Morales University of Málaga https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5907-9735

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15561/20755279.2026.0501

Keywords:

physical activity, sleep duration, academic performance, accelerometry, university students

Abstract

Background and Study Aim. Physical activity is one of the movement behaviors performed in daily life. The relationships between movement behaviors and indicators of academic performance continue to be of interest under changing educational and lifestyle conditions. The aim of this study was to analyze the association between objectively measured physical activity, total sleep time, and academic performance in university students. Materials and Methods. The study included 102 undergraduate Sport Sciences students from EADE Málaga, Spain. Physical activity and sleep quantity were assessed over seven consecutive days using ActiGraph GT9X Link accelerometers worn on the non-dominant wrist. Academic performance was obtained from official university records based on the students' average academic marks. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analyses were performed for the total sample and separately by sex. Results. Participants showed a mean total sleep time of 364.94 ± 129.12 minutes per day and a mean academic mark of 7.50 ± 1.45 points. Total sleep time was significantly associated with several accelerometer-derived variables, including wear time, non-wear time, sedentary time, light physical activity, and moderate physical activity. However, academic performance was not significantly associated with physical activity variables in the total sample or among men. Conclusions. Sleep quantity was associated with daily movement behaviors in university Sport Sciences students. However, physical activity was not associated with academic performance. These findings indicate that sleep, sedentary behavior, and physical activity are interconnected lifestyle factors. Further longitudinal studies with larger and more balanced samples are warranted.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Serafín Gil-Becerra, European University of Andalusia

sefi.gb@hotmail.com; Department of Physiotherapy and Sport Sciences, Faculty of Biomedical and Sport Sciences (Malaga, Spain); Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Malaga (Malaga, Spain).

José López-Aguilar, University School of Osuna

josela@euosuna.org; Department of Physical Education and Sport (Osuna, Spain); Department of Sport Science, Faculty of Management and Health, EADE-University of Wales Trinity Saint David (Málaga, Spain).

Laura Ramírez-Pérez, University of Málaga

laura_13_elburgo@uma.es; Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences (Málaga, Spain); Biomedical Research Institute of Malaga (IBIMA), Clinometric Group F-14 (Málaga, Spain).

Manuel García-Sillero, European University of Andalusia

manugarciasillero@gmail.com; Department of Physiotherapy and Sports Sciences, Faculty of Biomedical and Sports Sciences; Malaga, Spain.

Rocío Martín-Valero, University of Málaga

rovalemas@uma.es; Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences; Malaga, Spain.

Noelia Moreno-Morales, University of Málaga

nmm@uma.es; Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences; Malaga, Spain.

References

World Health Organization. WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary habits: at a glance. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2020.

García-Lorenzo E, Visos-Varela I, Pintos-Rodríguez S, Salgado-Barreira A, Corral-Varela M, Figueiras-Guzmán A, et al. Physical activity and sedentarism among university students: an approach using a real-life survey. European Journal of Public Health, 2024;34(Supplement_3): ckae144.1297. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckae144.1297

Tárraga López PJ, Tárraga Marcos A, Panisello JM, Herencia Carbayo JA, Tárraga Marcos ML, López-Gil JF. Physical activity and its association with Mediterranean diet patterns among Spanish university students. Nutrición Hospitalaria, 2022. https://doi.org/10.20960/nh.03892

Wilhite K, Booker B, Huang BH, Antczak D, Corbett L, Parker P, et al. Combinations of Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, and Sleep Duration and Their Associations With Physical, Psychological, and Educational Outcomes in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review. American Journal of Epidemiology, 2022;192(4): 665–679. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwac212

Faught E, Qian W, Carson V, Storey K, Faulkner G, Veugelers P, et al. The longitudinal impact of diet, physical activity, sleep, and screen time on Canadian adolescents' academic achievement: An analysis from the COMPASS study. Preventive Medicine, 2019;125: 24–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2019.05.007

Howie EK, Joosten J, Harris CJ, Straker LM. Associations between meeting sleep, physical activity or screen time behaviour guidelines and academic performance in Australian school children. BMC Public Health, 2020;20(1): 520. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-08620-w

Flueckiger L, Lieb R, Meyer AH, Mata J. How Health Behaviors Relate to Academic Performance via Affect: An Intensive Longitudinal Study. PLoS ONE, 2014;9(10): e111080. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0111080

Satti MZ, Khan TM, Qurat-ul-ain QUA, Azhar MJ, Javed H, Yaseen M, et al. Association of Physical Activity and Sleep Quality with Academic Performance Among Fourth-year MBBS Students of Rawalpindi Medical University. Cureus, 2019. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.5086

Suardiaz Muro M, Morante Ruiz M, Ortega Moreno M, Ruiz MA, Martín Plasencia P, Vela Bueno A. Sueño y rendimiento académico en estudiantes universitarios: revisión sistemática [Sleep and academic performance in university students: a systematic review]. Revista de Neurología, 2020;71(02): 43. (In Spanish). https://doi.org/10.33588/rn.7102.2020015

Gardiner C, Weakley J, Burke LM, Roach GD, Sargent C, Maniar N, et al. The effect of caffeine on subsequent sleep: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 2023;69: 101764. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2023.101764

Musshafen LA, Tyrone RS, Abdelaziz A, Sims-Gomillia CE, Pongetti LS, Teng F, et al. Associations between sleep and academic performance in US adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Medicine, 2021;83: 71–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2021.04.015

Creswell JD, Tumminia MJ, Price S, Sefidgar Y, Cohen S, Ren Y, et al. Nightly sleep duration predicts grade point average in the first year of college. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2023;120(8): e2209123120. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2209123120

Vedaa Ø, Erevik EK, Hysing M, Hayley AC, Sivertsen B. Insomnia, sleep duration and academic performance: a national survey of Norwegian college and university students. Sleep Medicine: X, 2019;1: 100005. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleepx.2019.100005

Garvie PA, Zeldow B, Malee K, Nichols SL, Smith RA, Wilkins ML, et al. Discordance of Cognitive and Academic Achievement Outcomes in Youth With Perinatal HIV Exposure. Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, 2014;33(9): e232–e238. https://doi.org/10.1097/INF.0000000000000314

Grasso P. Rendimiento académico: un recorrido conceptual que aproxima a una definición unificada para el ámbito superior [Academic performance: a conceptual review towards a unified definition for higher education]. Revista de Educación, 2020;11(20):87–102. (In Spanish)

Žuljević MF, Buljan I. Academic and non-academic predictors of academic performance in medical school: an exploratory cohort study. BMC Medical Education, 2022;22(1): 366. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03436-1

Al-Khani AM, Sarhandi MI, Zaghloul MS, Ewid M, Saquib N. A cross-sectional survey on sleep quality, mental health, and academic performance among medical students in Saudi Arabia. BMC Research Notes, 2019;12(1): 665. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-019-4713-2

Brown DMY, Porter C, Hamilton F, Almanza F, Narvid C, Pish M, et al. Interactive Associations between Physical Activity and Sleep Duration in Relation to Adolescent Academic Achievement. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022;19(23): 15604. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192315604

Suau Q, Bianchini E, Bellier A, Chardon M, Milane T, Hansen C, et al. Current Knowledge about ActiGraph GT9X Link Activity Monitor Accuracy and Validity in Measuring Steps and Energy Expenditure: A Systematic Review. Sensors, 2024;24(3): 825. https://doi.org/10.3390/s24030825

Weaver RG, de Zambotti M, White J, Finnegan O, Nelakuditi S, Zhu X, et al. Evaluation of a device-agnostic approach to predict sleep from raw accelerometry data collected by Apple Watch Series 7, Garmin Vivoactive 4, and ActiGraph GT9X Link in children with sleep disruptions. Sleep Health, 2023;9(4): 417–429. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2023.04.005

Troiano RP, Berrigan D, Dodd KW, Mâsse LC, Tilert T, McDowell M. Physical Activity in the United States Measured by Accelerometer. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2008;40(1): 181–188. https://doi.org/10.1249/mss.0b013e31815a51b3

Freedson PS, Melanson E, Sirard J. Calibration of the Computer Science and Applications, Inc. accelerometer. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 1998;30(5): 777–781. https://doi.org/10.1097/00005768-199805000-00021

Sadeh A, Sharkey M, Carskadon MA. Activity-Based Sleep-Wake Identification: An Empirical Test of Methodological Issues. Sleep, 1994;17(3): 201–207. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/17.3.201

Hopkins WG. A new view of statistics. Internet Society for Sport Science; 2000.

Van Dyk TR, Krietsch KN, Saelens BE, Whitacre C, McAlister S, Beebe DW. Inducing more sleep on school nights reduces sedentary behavior without affecting physical activity in short-sleeping adolescents. Sleep Medicine, 2018;47: 7–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2018.03.007

Crowley SK, Rebellon J, Huber C, Leonard AJ, Henderson D, Magal M. Cardiorespiratory fitness, sleep, and physiological responses to stress in women. European Journal of Sport Science, 2020;20(10): 1368–1377. https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2020.1716855

Sullivan Bisson AN, Robinson SA, Lachman ME. Walk to a better night of sleep: testing the relationship between physical activity and sleep. Sleep Health, 2019;5(5): 487–494. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2019.06.003

Zhang X, Gu X, Zhang T, Keller JM. The mediating roles of sleep quality and sedentary behavior between physical fitness and depression among female college freshmen. Journal of American College Health, 2020;70(5): 1528–1535. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2020.1809431

Morrissey B, Malakellis M, Whelan J, Millar L, Swinburn B, Allender S, et al. Sleep duration and risk of obesity among a sample of Victorian school children. BMC Public Health, 2016;16(1): 245. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-2913-4

Kakinami L, O'Loughlin EK, Brunet J, Dugas EN, Constantin E, Sabiston CM, et al. Associations between physical activity and sedentary behavior with sleep quality and quantity in young adults. Sleep Health, 2017;3(1): 56–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2016.11.001

Cholewa C, Witkowski M, Wąsik J, Góra T. Declared and actual students’ physical activity. Physical education of students, 2020;24(3): 135–140. https://doi.org/10.15561/20755279.2020.0302

Zhang D, Hong J, Chen S, Liu Y. Associations of physical activity with academic achievement and academic burden in Chinese children and adolescents: do gender and school grade matter?. BMC Public Health, 2022;22(1): 1496. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13886-3

Wald A, Muennig PA, O'Connell KA, Garber CE. Associations between Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors and Academic Performance in U.S. Undergraduates: A Secondary Analysis of the American College Health Association's National College Health Assessment II. American Journal of Health Promotion, 2014;28(5): 298–305. https://doi.org/10.4278/ajhp.120518-QUAN-265

Alghadir A, Gabr S, Iqbal Z. Effect of Gender, Physical Activity and Stress-Related Hormones on Adolescent’s Academic Achievements. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020;17(11): 4143. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17114143

Bueno MRDO, Zambrin LF, Panchoni C, Werneck AO, Fernandes RA, Serassuelo H, et al. Association Between Device-Measured Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity and Academic Performance in Adolescents. Health Education & Behavior, 2020;48(1): 54–62. https://doi.org/10.1177/1090198120954390

Papasideris M, Leatherdale ST, Battista K, Hall PA. Correction: An examination of the prospective association between physical activity and academic achievement in youth at the population level. PLOS ONE, 2021;16(11): e0259618. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0259618

Guo L, Liang L. Physical activity as a causal variable for adolescent resilience levels: A cross-lagged analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 2023;14: 1095999. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1095999