Sex differences in the effect of exercise upon sleep.

A survey in a high school in the city of Troms? in the spring of 1988 was designed to examine the characteristics of sleep and factors promoting and disturbing sleep. Out of 621 students 465 (74.9%) responded to 11 questions about last night's sleep and what the individual perceived as usual sleep (10 questions). On this information two sleep-quality scores, a special score for last night's sleep and a general score for what is perceived as usual sleep, were computed. The sleep-quality score was the sum of answers identical to a preset "right" answer indicating good sleep-quality. Multiple regression analyses separately by sex showed that different variables influence sleep-quality of boys and girls. Activity and intensity of exercise were taken into the regression model for the special sleep-score for boys but not for girls. For girls psychological factors seemed of greater importance to sleep-quality than exercise.