Age as a moderator of the association between depressive symptoms and morningness-eveningness.
OBJECTIVE
We aimed to investigate the moderating effect of age on the association of morningness-eveningness with depression in subjects with a broad range of ages. The hypothesis of the current study was that there would be a relationship between depressive symptoms and eveningness, especially in young age groups.


METHODS
Three hundred sixty-one subjects (male/female=140/221) from 19 to 79 years of age participated in the study. Subjects were separated into five age groups: (1) < or = 20s (n=70), (2) 30s (n=85), (3) 40s (n=97), (4) 50s (n=54) and 5) > or = 60s (n=55). The Horne-Osteberg Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) and the Center for Epidemiological Studies for Depression Scale (CES-D) were administered to all subjects.


RESULTS
MEQ showed a significantly independent and negative association with CES-D (beta=-.27, P<.001), which meant the association between eveningness and depressive symptoms. The negative association between MEQ and CES-D were significant in < or = 20s (beta=-.31, P=.01), 50s (beta=-.38, P<.01) and > or = 60s (beta=-.35, P<.01), while there was no significant association between MEQ and CES-D in 30s (beta=-.06, P=.56) and 40s (beta=-.10, P=.32).


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings demonstrate an association of depressive symptoms with eveningness, which was more prominent in younger or older aged than in middle aged. Our findings suggest that the association between depressive symptoms and eveningness might be moderated by age.
Kim
Seog Ju
SJ
Department of Psychiatry, Gachon University of Medicine and Science, Incheon, South Korea.
Lee
Yu Jin
YJ
Kim
Hyunkyung
H
Cho
In Hee
IH
Lee
Jun-Young
JY
Cho
Seong-Jin
SJ
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012044:Regression Analysis; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires