Faculty of Psychology, University of Akureyri, Nordurslod 2, 600 Akureyri, Iceland.
Faculty of Psychology, University of Akureyri, Nordurslod 2, 600 Akureyri, Iceland.
Psychiatry Res. 2021 Mar;297:113722. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2021.113722. Epub 2021 Jan 14.
Seasonal affective disorder has been associated with sleep problems, young age, and an evening chronotype. A chronotype refers to an individual's preference in the timing of their sleep-wake cycle, as well as the time during the sleep-wake cycle when a person is most alert and energetic. Seasonality refers to season-dependent fluctuations in sleep length, social activity, mood, weight, appetite, and energy level. Evening chronotype is more common in young adults and morning chronotype more common in the elderly. This study aimed to estimate the differential contribution of chronotype and age on seasonality. A sample of n=410 participants were included in the study. The age groups showed significantly different results according to sleep parameters, depression, anxiety, stress, seasonality, and chronotype. The oldest group (>59 years) showed the lowest scores on all of these scales. According to a path analysis, chronotype and age predict propensity for seasonality. However, sleep problems were linked to chronotype but not to age. Older adults seem to be more resistant to seasonal changes that are perceived as a problem than young and middle aged adults. Future studies would benefit from considering cultural aspects and examine seasonality, chronotype, depression, and insomnia in longitudinal designs.
季节性情感障碍与睡眠问题、年龄较小和夜间型有关。 昼夜时型是指一个人对其睡眠-觉醒周期的时间偏好，以及在睡眠-觉醒周期中最警觉和精力充沛的时间。季节性是指睡眠长度、社交活动、情绪、体重、食欲和能量水平随季节的波动。夜间型在年轻人中更为常见，而清晨型在老年人中更为常见。本研究旨在估计昼夜时型和年龄对季节性的差异贡献。本研究纳入了 n=410 名参与者。根据睡眠参数、抑郁、焦虑、压力、季节性和昼夜时型，年龄组显示出显著不同的结果。年龄最大的组（>59 岁）在所有这些量表上的得分最低。根据路径分析，昼夜时型和年龄预测季节性倾向。然而，睡眠问题与昼夜时型有关，而与年龄无关。与年轻和中年成年人相比，老年成年人似乎对被视为问题的季节性变化更具抵抗力。未来的研究将受益于考虑文化方面，并在纵向设计中检查季节性、昼夜时型、抑郁和失眠。
