Validation of a Chronotype Questionnaire Including an Amplitude Dimension

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to validate a French version of the Chronotype Questionnaire (Ogińska, 2011, Pers. Individ. Dif. 50:1039-1043), which represents an interesting novelty in the psychometric assessment of chronotype, because it comprises not only an assessment of the morningness-eveningness (ME) dimension, but also a distinctness (DI) dimension (i.e., amplitude), which represents the range of diurnal variation. In study 1, we aimed to confirm the structure of the Chronotype Questionnaire, with two different samples, young adults (n = 338, mean ± SD = 18.70 ± 1.12 yrs, 244 men and 94 women) and old adults (n = 477, mean ± SD = 55.92 ± 11.9 yrs, 168 men and 310 women). The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) indicated a poor fit in both samples as well as in the whole sample, which could be due to some inconsistencies in the original instrument, above all in the distinctness dimension. We therefore decided to revise the Chronotype Questionnaire, keeping the ME dimension, but refining the DI dimension. In study 2, with a new sample of 197 participants (mean ± SD = 22.71 ± 2.23 yrs, 105 men and 92 women), we examined the factor structure of the revised scale containing 18 items. The resulting questionnaire contained 16 items (i.e., 8 items on each scale), with item factor loadings higher than .45. In study 3, we aimed to confirm the factor structure of the instrument developed in study 2 as well as to examine its convergent validity, with a new sample of 158 participants (mean ± SD = 55.92 ± 11.9 yrs, 97 men and 61 women). Results of the CFA showed that a good fit of the model could be obtained with 16 items in the questionnaire. The new questionnaire derived from the original Chronotype Questionnaire was from now on called the Caen Chronotype Questionnaire (CCQ). Convergence validity was obtained with the Horne and Östberg questionnaire and the ME scale of the CCQ, showing a negative significant relationship (r = -.82). The CCQ showed promising psychometric qualities, and further research should aim to combine it with physiological variables.

Relationship between biomarkers of muscle damage and redox status in response to a weightlifting training session: effect of time-of-day

“…The protocol and the consent form were fully approved by the review board "Local committee of the Laboratory of Biochemistry, CHU Habib Bourguiba, Sfax, Tunisia" before the commencement of the assessments. Answers to the Dosseville et al (13), the questionnaire categorized the subjects as "moderately morning type" (n = 1) or "neither type" (n = 8).…”

Three-dimensional structural representation of the sleep-wake adaptability

“…However, further research is needed for clarifying relationships of the particular subscales (tetrads) of this new tool with the earlier proposed subconstructs of the sleep-wake adaptability, such as rigidity/flexibility and languidness/vigorousness (Di Milia et al, 2005), time awareness and strength of the early/ late preference (Di Milia et al, 2011), and distinctness of the diurnal rhythm of activation (Dosseville et al, 2013;Ogińska, 2011). Additional research efforts are also required for further improvement of the content of the new inventory.…”

“…Instead, DiMilia and Folkard (2009) more recently identified two other additional to early/late preference dimensions that can be self-assessed with the scales of the time awareness and strength of the early/late preference (Di Milia et al, 2011). Moreover, one of more recent proposals was to construct two-scale questionnaire tool that includes an amplitude scale for assessing distinctness (strong versus weak) of the diurnal rhythm of activation and a more traditional phase (morningness-eveningness) scale (Dosseville et al, 2013;Ogińska, 2011).…”

Psychometric Properties of Questionnaires for Assessing Chronotype

“…Given that some people shows fluctuations throughout the day, while others are more stable in their alertness and mood [53], Ogińska [54] and Dosseville et al [55] proposed the amplitude (the range of diurnal changes in morningness-eveningness) as an additional measure of circadian rhythm. The distinctness (DI) scale was developed to evaluate subjective amplitude, indicating the subjective feeling of distinctness of daily changes [54,55].…”

“…The MESSi comprises items of CSM [7], Caen Chronotype Questionnaire [55], and Circadian Energy Scale [56]. Randler et al [10] identified three subscales: 1) MA, 2) eveningness (EV), and 3) DI.…”