The relationship between morningness–eveningness, psychosocial variables, and cortisol reactivity to stress from a life history perspective.

Abstract

Consistent with the hypothesis that some of the psychological, behavioral, and physiological characteristics of morning- and evening-types may represent adaptations to slow and fast life histories, respectively, this study investigated variation in time perspective (i.e., being present- vs. future-oriented), impulsivity, cooperation and competition, self-perceived social status, and cortisol and testosterone concentrations in baseline conditions and in response to psychosocial stress in relation to morningness–eveningness. Study participants were 60 male and 60 female young adults, mostly college students. Questionnaires were used to collect demographic information and to assess morningness–eveningness, impulsivity, time perspective, and self-perceived social status. Cooperative and competitive tendencies were assessed with an Ultimatum Game, an iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma Game, and a Prosocial Risk-Taking Task. Half of the study participants underwent a standardized procedure that elicits psychosocial stress (the Trier Social Stress Test) and half served as controls. Three saliva samples were obtained before and after the TSST or the control condition and later assayed for testosterone and cortisol concentrations. Consistent with our hypotheses, morning-types were more future-oriented, more cooperative in the Prisoner’s dilemma (men, not women), and perceived themselves to be of lower social status than evening-types. Furthermore, morning-types had a significantly greater cortisol response to stress than evening-types. Some of our findings support the functional interpretation of morningness–eveningness from a life history perspective. In particular, higher physiological reactivity to psychosocial stress among morning-types may be associated with their reported lower extraversion and be one of the factors contributing to some aspects of their slow life history strategy, including their avoidance of short-term mating strategies, lower sexual competitiveness, and lower social status.

Chronotype and Cardiometabolic Parameters in Patients with Bipolar Disorder: Preliminary Findings

“…Several studies have underlined that chronotype affects the diurnal profile of cortisol regulated by the HPA axis. For example, morningness chronotype hashigher awakening cortisol peaks and a significantly greater cortisol response to stress than eveningness types [72,73]. It should not be forgotten that glucocorticoids are important regulators of lipid and glucose metabolism and that alterations in the function of the HPA axis predispose to obesity [74].…”

Live fast, die young and sleep later

“…This may constitute a Type I error. Alternately, given evidence linking hedonism to eveningness [ 40 ], our HVS-P item may insufficiently differentiate sleep-derived hedonic pleasure from general hedonic pleasure. More intuitive were the positive relationships between HVS-P and weekend sleep duration, overall time spent in bed (Study 1), and weekday sleep duration (Study 2), suggesting that those who particularly enjoy the sensation of sleeping are more prone to lounging around in bed.…”

“…Providing preliminary grounds for this prediction, previous work documents associations between sleep variables and dimensions of impulsivity, with lower premeditation being very weakly associated with shorter sleep, and increased urgency (defined as the tendency to act rashly under extreme emotions) being associated with symptoms of insomnia [ 39 ]. In another study, interrelationships were found between short-term orientation, heightened sociosexuality and greater eveningness [ 40 ]. However, while including eveningness and sleep duration, our model goes on to predict that fast-LH individuals will display multiple manifestations of compromised sleep representing reduced investment into maintenance, including truncated sleep, delayed SOL, greater WASO, and/or circadian disruption by way of unstable sleep/wake times and varying sleep durations.…”

The role of circadian rhythm preference in the onset of depression in adolescents

“…Among obese short sleepers, an evening preference is associated with higher morning plasma ACTH and urinary catecholamine concentrations [22] . Furthermore, evening types have higher cortisol concentrations following high-intensity interval exercise in the early morning compared to morning types [23] , and they exhibit a lower cortisol response to standardized psychosocial laboratory stressors [24] . MDD has complex and adverse long-term effects on both mental and physical health, partly due to HPA axis dysfunction [25] .…”