Individual differences in chronotypes associated with academic performance among Chilean University students

Comparison of Chronotypes and their Relationship with Academic Performance and Quality of Life in University Students

Objective  An individual's chronotype affects circadian characteristics associated with bedtime, waking, and other daily activities. It is known that academic achievement is strongly dependent on personality traits. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship regarding chronotype, quality of life, and academic performance of university students by comparing three educational fields: medicine, technology, and art. Materials and Methods  The present cross-sectional study was conducted with 400 medicine, technology, and art students enrolled at universities in Tehran between2018 and 2019, with convenience sampling from January 2020 to January 2021. The students filled out online questionnaires, including a demographics questionnaire, a quality of life assessment questionnaire (the World Health Organization Quality of Life: Brief Version, WHOQOL-BREF), the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 items (DASS-21). The statistical analysis was performed using the IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows software, version 22.0 ( p  < 0.05). Results  A total of 400 students were enrolled in the present study, including 115 medicine, 153 technology, and 132 art students (67.3% of female and 33.7% of male subjects, with a mean age of 21.06 ± 2.063 years). In spite of the absence of significant differences among the chronotypes of the three groups, there was a significant correlation regarding the chronotypes in all groups and quality of life ( p  = 0.005). Morning-type individuals presented better quality of life and better quality of sleep ( p  < 0.001; r = 0.175). No significant associations were found involving the students' academic performance and their chronotypes ( p  > 0.05; r = 0.026). Conclusion  Considering the chronotype's effect of improving the quality of life of students and, therefore, their academic performance, more studies are essential to effectively improve the academic performance of individuals with different chronotypes.

Association between Quality of Life, Confinement, and Sex in Adults: A Multigroup Structural Equation Analysis

The state of confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic affected the quality of life of the general population. This study aims to define and contrast an explanatory model of the quality of life in adults and to analyze the relationships between these variables based on the state of confinement and sex. A total of 872 people from Chile aged between 17 and 50 (M = 21.70 years; SD= 3.272), of both sexes (60.90% male and 39.1% female) participated in this research, of whom 46.6% were not confined when tested and 53.4% were confined, analyzing the quality of life. A model of multi-group structural equations was performed, which adjusted very well (χ2 = 559.577; DF = 38; p < 0.001; IFC = 0.934; NFI = 0.916; IFI = 0.934; RMSEA = 0.061). The results show a positive and direct relationship among all the variables studied and the structural equation model proposed according to confinement and sex reveals a good fit in all the evaluation indexes. Stress and sleep, personality, and introspection were the indicators with the greatest influence in the four models, followed by the family and friends indicator with a medium correlation strength, such as the health monitoring dimension, although this was not as influential in confined individuals. The main conclusions are that the best adjustments are obtained in confined adults and females, and the data show that the psychological indicators obtained (stress and sleep, personality, and introspection) have the greatest influence on adults in the four models proposed with regard to their quality of life.

Chronotype in college science students is associated with behavioral choices and can fluctuate across a semester

Many students self-report that they are "night owls," which can result from neurodevelopmental delays in the circadian timing system. However, whether an individual considers themselves to be an evening-type versus a morning-type (self-reported chronotype) may also be influenced by academic demands (e.g. class start times, course load) and behavioral habits (e.g. bedtime social media use, late caffeine consumption, daytime napping). If so, then chronotype should be malleable. We surveyed 858 undergraduate students enrolled in demanding science courses at up to three time points. The survey assessed morning/evening chronotype, global sleep quality, academics, and behavioral habits. Evening and morning-type students showed similar demographics, stress levels, and academic demands. At baseline measurements, relative to morning-types, evening-types showed significantly worse sleep quality and duration as well as 22% greater bedtime social media usage, 27% greater daytime napping duration, and 46% greater likelihood of consuming caffeine after 5pm. These behavioral habits partially mediated the effects of self-reported chronotype on sleep quality/duration, even after controlling for demographic factors. Interestingly, 54 students reported switching from being at least moderate evening-types at baseline to being at least moderate morning-types later in the semester and 56 students showed the reverse pattern (6.3% of students switched from "definitely" one chronotype to the other chronotype). Evening-to-morning "chrono-switchers" consumed less caffeine after 5pm and showed significantly better sleep quantity/quality at the later timepoint. Thus, some students may consider themselves to be night owls in part because they consume caffeine later, take more daytime naps, or use more social media at bedtime. Experimental work is needed to determine whether nudging night owls to behave like morning larks results in better sleep health or academic achievement.

Multinomial Cross-Sectional Regression Models to Estimate and Predict the Determinants of Academic Performance: The Case of Auditor Accountant of the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso

The debate on the primary cross-curricular skills or fundamental competencies that must be improved in higher education has increased in the last few years. This is especially important in the new distant learning environments, which bring new challenges to the educational process. Econometric models have been designed to explain the students’ academic performance, which has been measured using their qualifications average, the number of failed subjects, passed subjects, and withdrawn subjects, and the level of progress, among other indicators, to try to understand the influence of variables such as students’ self-esteem, reading comprehension, English proficiency level, and performance in a mathematics-related subject on the students of accountant auditor program from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaiso. Students were asked to fill in a questionnaire to collect data on the psychological and pedagogical variables, while the socio-economic and socio-demographic data were collected from the university. The results have shown that the most significant variables in the development level of this skill type are socio-demographic and socio-economic characteristics. Some of the psychological and pedagogical variables that have, to a lesser degree, some influences are self-regulation in the learning process and the self-perception of anxiety levels. Lastly, some recommendations to intervene in the students’ learning process are presented with the objective of achieving a higher level of development in this type of competences.

Chronotype, general health and quality of sleep in a population of Spanish nurses

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between chronotype, general health status and sleep quality in a sample of Spanish nurses.

METHOD

An observational study assessing morningness-eveningness predisposition, general health status and quality of sleep was conducted between January and April 2018. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed. A linear regression model was carried out to determine the influence of the variables on the morningness-eveningness type.

RESULTS

Morning-type was associated with aging (β = 0.249, p = 0.005), being married (β = 3.970, p = 0.033), and with a self-assessed low daily sleepiness (β = -0.311, p = 0.152). Good quality of sleep was moderately correlated with high values of general health (r = 0.337) and perceived quality of life (r = 0.426).

CONCLUSION

Anomalies of the circadian rhythm together with the features of shift workers may play an important role in predicting self-assessed general health status or the quality of sleep in nurses.

Circadian Phase Prediction From Non-Intrusive and Ambulatory Physiological Data

Chronotherapy aims to treat patients according to their endogenous biological rhythms and requires, therefore, knowing their circadian phase. Circadian phase is partially determined by genetics and, under natural conditions, is normally entrained by environmental signals (zeitgebers), predominantly by light. Physiological data such as melatonin concentration and core body temperature (CBT) have been used to estimate circadian phase. However, due to their expensive and intrusive obtention, other physiological variables that also present circadian rhythmicity, such as heart rate variability, skin temperature, activity, and body position, have recently been proposed in several studies to estimate circadian phase. This study aims to predict circadian phase using minimally intrusive ambulatory physiological data modeled with machine learning techniques. Two approaches were considered; first, time-series were used to train artificial neural networks (ANNs) that predict CBT and melatonin dynamics and, second, a novel approach that uses scalar variables to build regression models that predict the time of the minimum CBT and the dim light melatonin onset (DLMO). ANNs require less than 48 hours of minimally intrusive data collection to predict circadian phase with an accuracy of less than one hour. On the other hand, regression models that use only three variables (body mass index, activity, and heart rate) are simpler and show higher accuracy with less than one minute of error, although they require longer times of data collection. This is a promising approach that should be validated in further studies considering a broader population and a wider range of conditions, including circadian misalignment.

Physical Self-Concept, Gender, and Physical Condition of Bizkaia University Students

(1) Background: Despite the benefits of physical activity being well documented in university students, some do not follow the international recommendations. This period of life is a vital stage in adhering to healthy habits in adult life. The objective of the study was to analyze university students' scores of their physical self-concept and its relationship with gender, physical condition, and level of self-perceived competence. (2) Methods: The sample comprised of 1289 Bizkaia University students (42.12% men and 57.87% women), between 18 and 46.5 years old (M = 20.4; SD = 2.2 years). Physical self-concept, physical condition, number of hours per week of physical activity, and perceived fitness level were analyzed. (3) Results: We found significant differences between women and men in their physical self-concept, but it seemed to be mainly an indirect effect through the mediation of hours of exercise and physical condition. (4) Conclusions: To understand the variance of the level of physical self-concept between genders in university students, the effect of certain variables (physical condition, number of hours per week, and perceived fitness level) must be considered, as well as the mediating role of some of these variables.

Why do evening people consider themselves more intelligent than morning individuals? The role of big five, narcissism, and objective cognitive ability

Morningness-eveningness, or chronotype, reflects the timing of sleep-wake patterns across a 24-hour day. Extant research has revealed that chronotype correlates with numerous psychological constructs including cognitive ability. In the current research, we examined how people with different chronotypes perceive their intelligence. We expected eveningness to be positively associated with subjectively assessed intelligence (SAI) because evening chronotypes demonstrate slightly higher intelligence than morning individuals. Furthermore, we considered personality traits (Big Five and narcissism) and objective intelligence (measured with standardized tests of fluid and verbal IQ) as potential variables that could account for this relationship. Across two studies (N = 504 and 232), we found that eveningness was associated with higher SAI. This relationship remained significant even after controlling for objective intelligence. In Study 1, we also found that when conscientiousness and neuroticism were analyzed together with chronotype, the magnitude of positive association between eveningness and SAI increased. Furthermore, Study 2 revealed that evening individuals exhibited higher narcissism, which fully accounted for their intelligence self-views. In the discussion, we speculate that daily struggles of evening chronotypes to function in morning-oriented society give them a basis to think positively about their intelligence to the extent of positive bias.

Effect of chronotype on academic achievement in a sample of Italian University students

Circadian rhythms play an important role in biological function; their expression differs across individuals; three chronotypes are distinguished: Morning- [MT], Evening- [ET], and Neither- [NT] type. MT achieve peak activation in the first part of the day and are generally more conscientious and achievement-oriented than ET, which reach their best during the second half of the day and express a higher intelligence. University class schedules can sometimes conflict with ET circadian preferences, compromising their academic performance compared with their MT classmates. Conversely, MT students, being more aligned with their daily schedule, might be more advantaged in their mental performance. The attitudes and performance of NT students are little considered. No studies to date have investigated academic achievement in relation to chronotype in an Italian student population. To fill this gap, this study examined the relationship between chronotype and academic performance in a population of Motor Science Faculty in Milan, differentiating achievement in theoretical and practical subjects by chronotype. The study population was 423 university students (290 males and 133 females) and categorized by chronotype according to Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) scores. Student transcripts were reviewed to obtain exam grades on three practical and three theoretical subjects. The interaction between MEQ score or chronotypes and mean exam grade was evaluated using one-way ANOVA. The mean grades on the theoretical and practical exams were higher for the MT than for either the ET or the NT students. The NT students (24.8 ± 0.1) had lower mean grades for the theoretical subjects than either the MT (26.3 ± 0.4) or the ET (25.3 ± 0.2) students, while the ET (26.6 ± 0.2) performed worse than either the MT (27.8 ± 0.2) or the NT students (26.9 ± 0.1) on the practical exams. The same trend was observed for the total sample and when subdivided by sex. In the total sample, significant differences in theoretical and practical exam grades were noted between chronotypes: MT vs ET (p < .002, p < .0006) and MT vs NT (p < .04, p < .003). The differences between the males were significant for the theoretical (p < .006, MT vs NT, p < .002) and the practical subjects (MT vs ET p < .004, MT vs NT, p < .01), but no significant differences were noted between the females. Our findings indicate overall better academic achievement by the MT students, whereas the NT had lower exam grades for the theoretical subjects and the ET performed worse on the practical exams. We speculate that the higher intelligence expressed by the ET students might have helped them compensate the disadvantage on the theoretical but not on practical exams, in which the effect of misalignment between circadian preferences and university class schedule was more evident.

Motivational Climate and Physical Activity: A Multigroup Analysis in Romanian and Spanish University Students

BACKGROUND

Motivational climate in sport is a psychosocial construct which is related with several factors, such as healthy habits and well-being, and is influenced by teachers, trainers, and parents. The aim of this study was to assess the relationships between motivational climate, family functionality, and physical activity within a population of students from Spain and Romania.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of university students specialization: physical education (n = 605; 20.71 ± 2.42 years old), using the perceived motivational climate in sport questionnaire-2 (PMCSQ-2), the physical activity questionnaire for adolescents (PAQ-A), and the family functionality scale (APGAR) as the main instruments. IBM SPSS Amos was used for data analysis in the structural equation model that was developed.

RESULTS

We observed positive relationships between task-oriented climate, family functionality, and the level of physical activity, showing higher regression weights for Spanish university students. Ego-oriented climate was negatively related to family functionality in Spanish university students, while this association was positive in Romanian students. Moreover, the relationship between physical activity and functional family was stronger in respondents from Spain.

CONCLUSIONS

It can be pointed out that a better family functionality can promote higher levels of physical activity and self-determined motivations in sports shown by task-oriented motivational climates. Thus, it is essential to take into account the influence of family in the promotion of healthy lifestyles.