Circadian preference and academic achievement in school-aged students: a systematic review and a longitudinal investigation of reciprocal relations

May 13, 2021Chronobiology international

How sleep timing preferences and school performance relate over time in students

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Abstract

A review of 26 studies indicates a positive relation between morningness and students' school achievement.

Eveningness is associated with lower school achievement.
The relations between circadian preference and school achievement are not significantly influenced by age, sex, or intelligence.
Conscientiousness, motivation, and sleep behavior significantly mediate the relation between circadian preference and school achievement.
No significant relation was found when school started in the afternoon.
In a longitudinal study of 764 high school students, morningness positively predicted changes in grade point average over time.
Reciprocal relations were observed: higher grade point averages predicted an increase in morningness and a decrease in eveningness.

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We provide a systematic review of findings on the relation between circadian preference and school achievement published after the last comprehensive review in 2015. We further test this relation in a longitudinal study. Our review of 26 studies revealed a positive relation between morningness and students' school achievement, and a negative relation between eveningness and school achievement. In most studies, these relations were not affected by students' age, sex, or intelligence, but were significantly mediated by students' conscientiousness, motivation, and sleep behavior. Furthermore, circadian preference and school achievement showed no significant relation when school started in the afternoon. All studies were cross-sectional. Therefore, the direction of the relations between circadian preference, school achievement, and potential mediating variables like conscientiousness and motivation could not be investigated. In our longitudinal study, we tested the direction of the relations between circadian preference, academic achievement, conscientiousness, self-efficacy, and attitude toward school over time in a sample of 764 German high school students who were tested in the first (T1) and third (T2) year of high school. Findings from confirmatory cross-lagged models indicated reciprocal relations between circadian preference and school achievement: T1 morningness positively predicted change in grade point average over time while T1 grade point average positively predicted change in morningness and negatively predicted change in eveningness. Furthermore, T1 conscientiousness and T1 attitude toward school both positively predicted change in morningness, whereas T1 morningness and T1 eveningness did not significantly predict change in these variables.

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Circadian preference and academic achievement in school-aged students: a systematic review and a longitudinal investigation of reciprocal relations

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