Investigation of the relationship between chronotype, learning style and academic achievement of university students during distance education in the pandemic period

Chronotypes and their association with sleep quality among Chinese college students of Anhui Province: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES

To describe the prevalence of chronotype and sleep quality among Chinese college students and explore the relationship between chronotype and sleep quality.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional study.

SETTING

Four colleges and universities in Anhui, China, between November and December 2020.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 4768 college students were recruited using a stratified, multistage, cluster sampling survey.

OUTCOME MEASURES

Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire 19 was used to determine the chronotype of the students and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to measure their sleep quality. The multiple logistic regression model was used to explore the potential association between chronotype and sleep quality.

RESULTS

The self-reported proportions of evening-type (E-type), neutral-type and morning-type among college students were 51.17%, 45.14% and 3.69%, respectively. The mean PSQI score was 4.97±2.82 and the prevalence of poor sleep quality was 18.2%. After adjusting the covariates by multiple logistic regression analysis, E-type was positively associated with subjective sleep quality (OR=1.671, 95% CI 1.414 to 1.975), sleep latency (OR=1.436, 95% CI 1.252 to 1.647), sleep duration (OR=2.149, 95% CI 1.506 to 3.067), habitual sleep efficiency (OR=1.702, 95% CI 1.329 to 2.180), daytime dysfunction (OR=1.602, 95% CI 1.412 to 1.818) and overall poor sleep quality (OR=1.866, 95% CI 1.586 to 2.196).

CONCLUSIONS

College students mainly exhibited E-type, and an elevated prevalence of poor sleep quality existed among these students. The E-type was positively associated with poor sleep quality.

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.