title: Transcultural properties of the composite scale of morningness: the relevance of the "morning affect" factor.
abstract: Morningness scales have been translated into several languages, but a lack of normative data and methodological differences make cross-cultural comparisons difficult. This study examines the psychometric properties and factor structure of the Composite Scale of Morningness (CSM) in samples from five countries: France (n = 627), Italy (n = 702), Spain (n = 391), Thailand (n = 503), and Australia (n = 654). Strong national differences are identified. A quadratic relationship between age and CSM total score was apparent in the Australian data with a downward trend after age 35 yrs. There was no age effect in any sample in the range from 18 to 29 yrs. Factor analysis identified a three-factor solution in all groups for both men and women. Tucker's congruence coefficients indicate that: (1) this solution is highly congruent between sexes in each culture, and (2) a morning affect factor is highly congruent between cultures. These results indicate there are national differences in factorial structure and that cut-off scores used to categorize participants as morning- and evening-types should be established for different cultural and age groups.
authors.affiliation: CHU de Nice, Hôpital Archet 2, Service de Pédiatrie, Nice, France. caci.h@chu-nice.fr
authors.forename: Hervé
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Caci
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Adan
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bohle
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Natale
authors.forename: Chanthika
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pornpitakpan
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tilley
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D002909:Chronobiology Phenomena; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010551:Personality; D010555:Personality Inventory; D017440:Photoperiod; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013995:Time