The Epidemiology of Morningness/Eveningness: Influence of Age, Gender, Ethnicity, and Socioeconomic Factors in Adults (30-49 Years)

Abstract

The Horne and Ostberg Morningness/Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) is widely used to differentiate between morning and evening types, but there is very little epidemiological evidence about the distribution of MEQ chronotypes in the general population. The purpose of the present study was to simultaneously investigate the influence of demographic, socioeconomic, and work factors on the distribution of morningness/eveningness. A New Zealand version of the MEQ was mailed to 5000 New Zealand adults, ages 30 to 49 years, who were randomly selected from the electoral rolls (55.7% response rate). A total of 2526 questionnaires were included in the analyses. According to the Horne and Ostberg classification, 49.8% of the total population was classified as morning type compared to 5.6% having an evening-type preference. However, using new cutoffs for middle-aged working adults described by Taillard et al. (2004), 24.7% of the population was morning type and 26.4% was evening type. After controlling for ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic deprivation, participants ages 30 to 34 years were more likely to be definitely evening type (odds ratio [OR] = 1.59, p < 0.05) and less likely to be morning type (moderately morning type, OR = 0.59, p < 0.01, or definitely morning type, OR = 0.59, p < 0.05) compared to those ages 45 to 49 years. Work schedules were also important predictors of chronotype, with night workers more likely to be definitely evening type (OR = 1.49, p = 0.05) and the unemployed less likely to be moderately morning type (OR = 0.64, p < 0.05) compared to other workers. Evening types were 2.5 times more likely to report that their general health was only poor or fair compared to morning types (p < 0.01). This study confirms that the original criteria of Horne and Ostberg (1976) are not useful for classifying chronotypes in a middle-aged population. The authors conclude that morningness/eveningness preference is largely independent of ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic position, indicating that it is a stable characteristic that may be better explained by endogenous factors.

Circadian Typology: A Comprehensive Review

“…After the end of adolescence, morningness scores tend to increase with age Merikanto et al, 2012;Monk et al, 2002;Monk & Kupher, 2000;Paine et al, 2006;Park et al, 2002, Taillard et al, 2004Tonetti et al, 2008). The age-related shift to morningness is observed after controlling for demographic and socioeconomic factors, and correlates with most of the circadian functions with biological and behavioral circadian parameters (Klei et al, 2005;Monk et al, 2004;Mongrain et al, 2004;Taillard et al, 2011;Zimmermann, 2011).…”

“…Small, large and epidemiological studies each report an association between ET and night work (Adan & Almirall, 1991;Paine et al, 2006;Petru et al, 2005).…”

“…These results tend to be found in large samples that have used the MEQ. However, some studies have not found any gender differences (Paine et al, 2006;Zimmermann, 2011), and others reported ET was higher in females (Merikanto et al, 2012).…”

Personalidade e padrões comportamentais do sono: diferenças entre homens e mulheres

“…É possível que estas substâncias não resultem em graves alterações comportamentais nos traços de personalidade associado aos fatores do sono, independentemente do sexo dos participantes. Porém, faz-se necessária a condução de estudos psicofi siológicos de medidas de cortisol e melatonina que verifi quem os efeitos de estimulantes/inibitórios no sistema nervoso central associado aos padrões de sono e aos traços de personalidade (Bueno & Way, 2012;Miguel, 2012;Owsley, Sekuler, & Siemsen, 1983;Paine, Gander, & Travier, 2006). Neubauer (1992) ao comparar os mesmos fatores investigados no presente estudo, encontrou correlações baixas, porém signifi cativas entre extroversão e neuroticismo com o cronotipo moderadamente vespertino, indicando que os sujeitos moderadamente vespertinos possuem caracterís-ticas como entusiasmo, altivez, (exemplos de extroversão) e certa tendência a apresentar estados negativos (exemplo de neuroticismo).…”

Night shift work, chronotype, and prostate cancer risk: Incentives for additional analyses and prevention

“…In addition, Grundy et al 10 reported circumstantial information on possible selection effects: A Canadian study population, at least with 20 years of shift-work, appeared to consist of less "owls" and "larks" than may have been expected from another study in middle-aged working adults. 11 Demonstration that extreme chronotypes engaged in rotating shift-work were to experience more chronobiological stress and strain than intermediate chronotypes could be relevant to contain hypothesized cancer risks 3 in rotating shift-workers. Indeed, this could imply that we may direct preventative measures to the roughly 25% extreme (comprising 5% early and 20% late chronotypes) chronotypes within the general population.…”