Morningness: protective factor for sleep-related and emotional problems in childhood and adolescence?

The relationship between morningness/eveningness, sleep, and psychological problems is well documented in adults as well as in adolescents. However, research on the circadian orientation and its concomitants in younger children is scarce. The authors investigated the distribution of morningness/eveningness and its connection to sleeping and psychological problems in 91 children and 151 adolescents in Austria. The authors found that morning (M) types had less sleep-related and psychological problems than intermediate (I) and evening (E) types, respectively. Among children, M-types suffered less from daytime sleepiness (females: χ(2)((2)) = 8.1, p = .017; males: χ(2)((2)) = 14.8, p = .001). Among adolescents, M-types showed fewer sleep-wake problems (females: χ(2)((2)) = 17.5, p < .001; males: χ(2)((2)) = 19.8, p < .001), and female M-types showed less externalizing (χ(2)((2)) = 8.7, p = .013) as well as internalizing problem behavior (χ(2)((2)) = 9.0, p = .011). In conclusion, these findings indicate that morningness may act as a protective factor against the development of sleep-related problems in childhood and sleep-related and psychological problems in adolescence, especially in females.