title: Parents' assessment of circadian preference in elementary school-aged children: Validity and relations to educational outcomes.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , University of Trier , Trier , Germany.
authors.forename: Vsevolod
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Scherrer
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , University of Trier , Trier , Germany.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , University of Trier , Trier , Germany.
authors.forename: Franzis
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Preckel
mesh_terms: D001519:Behavior; D002648:Child; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D012574:Schools; D012890:Sleep; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Circadian preference; academic achievement; elementary school; eveningness; morningness