| Abstract: | Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the sleep quality and related personal, family, school, and community factors of urban and rural middle school students in Taiwan. Methods: Based on county population density, Taipei City and Hualien County were selected to represent urban and rural areas, respectively. Based on two-stage random sampling, we first selected three middle schools from each county and then selected one-fourth of the classes from each grade in the six selected schools. Valid data were collected from 1, 796 participants by using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and a self-administered structural questionnaire. The data were analyzed using χ2 and t tests and multiple regression. Results: (1) The sleep quality of the urban and rural middle school students" was not favorable (PSQI = 6.47 and 6.28); on weekdays, the quality of sleep (QOS) of urban students was poorer than that of rural students (t = 2.74, p <.01). (2) Health status, computer use, sleep regularity, family relationships, academic stress, and interpersonal stress were common QOS factors among both urban and rural students. (3) Seven personal;, three family, and two school factors were influential and explained 27.5% of the variance of QOS among urban students. (4) Five personal, one family, two school, and one community factor were influential and explained 27.4% of the variance of QOS among rural students. Conclusions: The QOS of urban and rural middle school students must be improved. However, the related factors for each group were different. Improvement programs specific to each group should be developed and implemented to promote the sleep "quality of urban and rural students. |
