Research evidence indicates that sleep-related factors in children and adolescents have a significant impact on all aspects of their functioning (Fallone et al., 2002, Dahl, 1996). An important research finding – from the viewpoint of school well-being – is the fact that there are significant correlations between students’ health behaviours and school performance. Evidence from already thirty years ago show that there is a decreased sleep duration among Finnish adolescents (Rimpelä & Rimpelä 1983, Tynjälä & Kannas 1993, Tynjälä 1999) reflecting a possible change in adolescents’ lifestyle and the use of time. Nowadays, the explosively increased use of ICT has really changed the life of contemporary adolescents with the possibility that there is even less time for sleeping (Punamäki et al. 2007, Suganuma et al. 2007). Indeed, sleep has become a critical resource for student health and school achievement. Accordingly, a recent meta-analysis concluded that sleep duration, sleep quality and sleepiness have all a small, but significant effect on children and adolescents’ school performance (Dewald et al., 2010). However, the role of gender and its possible interaction with age in these associations remains unclear (Dewald et al. 2010).   

The aim of the study was, first, to analyze the association between the sleep quality and school performance and, second, the role of gender and its possible interaction with age in the sleep-school performance association. The third aim of our study was to analyze whether there will be an association between possible secular trends in sleep and school performance. 

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