Chronotype and the Transition to College Life

Abstract

Social synchronizers of morningness-eveningness, or chronotype, begin to change during the developmental transition from adolescence to college life. The current study examined how these changes related to the sleep/wake patterns of 220 undergraduates (93 males/122 females) ranging in age from 18 to 29 yrs at a private university. Coping strategies students used to deal with early morning commitments and familial conflict over sleep patterns were also examined. Results revealed that evening chronotypes were more likely to report conflict with parents in junior high school and high school over going to bed and waking, followed by a shift to a later sleep/wake pattern in college. They also reported adjusting their schedules and using more coping strategies to accommodate their evening bias. Morning chronotypes, whose routines easily fit a conventional morning schedule, reported little change in schedules and sleep patterns from junior high school to college, and used fewer coping strategies in response to early morning commitments. The shift in social zeitgebers from junior high school to college are significant, and yet little research has examined the effect these changes can have on students' adjustment to college life and the role that chronotype plays in this process. Because students' ability to cope with these changes will ultimately influence how successful they are in their various endeavors, a greater understanding of how chronotype is related to adaptive functioning across this developmental period is needed.

Circadian Typology: A Comprehensive Review

“…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). As subjects grow older, there is a tendency to go to bed and wake up earlier, and to present the highest levels of activation at an earlier time, and even more so from the age of 50 on.…”

“…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).…”

College Students’ Prevalence of Sleep Hygiene Awareness and Practices

“…A change in daily schedules allows for students to sleep longer in the morning, and to go to bed later in the evening without a need to decrease the amount of sleep (Zimmermann, 2011). This allows for evening-typed students to align their scheduling appropriately and comfortably with their sleep and wake patterns (Zimmermann, 2011).…”

“…Upon beginning college, college students are faced with transferring from inflexible school schedules and parental restraint to increased flexibility in their schedules and a lack of dependence on parents (Zimmermann, 2011). A change in daily schedules allows for students to sleep longer in the morning, and to go to bed later in the evening without a need to decrease the amount of sleep (Zimmermann, 2011).…”

“…A change in daily schedules allows for students to sleep longer in the morning, and to go to bed later in the evening without a need to decrease the amount of sleep (Zimmermann, 2011). This allows for evening-typed students to align their scheduling appropriately and comfortably with their sleep and wake patterns (Zimmermann, 2011). Despite this, few evening-typed students reported receiving greater than seven hours of sleep per night, which has often been compensated with longer and more frequent naps during the day when compared to morning-typed students (Zimmermann, 2011).…”