Role of Living Conditions and Socioenvironmental Factors on Chronotype in Adolescents

Abstract

An individual’s chronotype, defined as the preference for rest and activity at different times of the day, is linked to several physiological and psychological outcomes. Research on environmental determinants of chronotype has focussed mostly on geographic location, whereas other socioenvironmental determinants have been neglected. We aimed to investigate the association between other previously unrecognized socioenvironmental factors and chronotypes in adolescents. We analysed data of 1916 Bengali adolescents (aged between 13–14 years, 47% girls). Chronotype was determined by the reduced morningness–eveningness questionnaire (rMEQ), and socioenvironmental factors were identified through a structured questionnaire. Associations were analysed using multinomial logistic regression models. Our findings demonstrated that living in urban areas, the presence of a smoker at home, and higher parental education were associated with a higher evening activity (eveningness), while the use of biomass cooking media (compared to liquefied petroleum gas) and assisting parents in farming were associated with higher morningness in adolescents. This is the first study to identify the association between previously unrecognized socioenvironmental factors and chronotypes delineating the interaction between environment and sleep in adolescents and might help the parents to understand the importance of a proper sleep-activity rhythm of their kids through a comprehensive understanding of their surrounding environment and other factors.

The Effect of Chronotype on Oppositional Behaviour and Psychomotor Agitation of School-Age Children: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…These data are robustly supported by the studies such as the ones by Karan et al [ 45 ] and Haldar et al [ 46 ] because the level of education of the parents is one of the covariates that is believed to determine the chronotype. However, in the study by Haldar et al [ 46 ], the parents having a higher level of education/skills influenced the more evening-type children, as well as sleep routines that are associated with this chronotype. In our study, the parents with higher education qualifications are more likely to have morning children.…”

“…In our study, the parents with higher education qualifications are more likely to have morning children. However, Haldar et al [ 46 ] associated the contextual variables such as living in urban or rural areas, which may certainly have moderated the results which were obtained. Regarding the context as a variable, the period when the tests were conducted must be taken into account: during the third wave of the pandemic in Europe.…”