Scherrer Vsevolod, Roberts Richard, Preckel Franzis
a Department of Psychology , University of Trier , Trier , Germany.
Chronobiol Int. 2016;33(9):1188-1207. doi: 10.1080/07420528.2016.1210618. Epub 2016 Aug 2.
Meta-analyses suggest that morning-oriented students obtain better school grades than evening-oriented students. This finding has generally been found for students in high school using self-report data for the assessment of circadian preference. Two studies (N = 2718/192) investigated whether these findings generalize across samples (i.e. elementary school-aged students) and methods (i.e. parent reports). These studies also explored whether the relation between circadian preference and school achievement could be explained within an expectancy-value framework. To this end, the Lark-Owl Chronotype Indicator (LOCI) was modified to obtain parents' evaluations of their children's circadian preference, while students completed a battery of assessments designed to explore the test-criterion evidence. Structural equation modeling and correlational analyses revealed: (1) morning and evening orientation were two separable factors of children's circadian preference; (2) correlations with behavioral (e.g. sleep and eating times) and psychological (e.g. cognitive ability) data supported the test-criterion validity of both factors; (3) morning orientation was positively related to school achievement and (4) consistent with an expectancy-value framework this relation was mediated by children's academic self-concept (ASC). These findings have important research and policy implications for considering circadian preference in the schooling of elementary students.
荟萃分析表明，偏好早晨型的学生比偏好夜晚型的学生学业成绩更好。这一发现通常是在高中生中得出的，使用自我报告数据来评估昼夜节律偏好。两项研究（N = 2718/192）调查了这些发现是否适用于不同样本（即小学生）和不同方法（即家长报告）。这些研究还探讨了昼夜节律偏好与学业成绩之间的关系是否可以在期望-价值框架内得到解释。为此，对晨暮型时间类型指标（LOCI）进行了修改，以获取家长对其子女昼夜节律偏好的评价，同时学生完成了一系列旨在探索测试-标准证据的评估。结构方程建模和相关分析显示：（1）早晨型和夜晚型是儿童昼夜节律偏好的两个可分离因素；（2）与行为（如睡眠时间和进食时间）和心理（如认知能力）数据的相关性支持了这两个因素的测试-标准效度；（3）早晨型与学业成绩呈正相关；（4）与期望-价值框架一致，这种关系由儿童的学业自我概念（ASC）介导。这些发现对于在小学生教育中考虑昼夜节律偏好具有重要的研究和政策意义。
