The associations of chronotype and social jetlag with prosocial behavior problems among Chinese adolescents

ABSTRACT

Potential relevance between the circadian rhythm and behavioral health has got raising attention in recent years. This study aimed to examine chronotype, social jetlag and their associations with prosocial behavior problems among Chinese adolescents. A total of 4,666 middle school students aged 12–18 years were enrolled in study. Sleep characteristics were collected by the modified Chinese version of Adolescent Sleep Hygiene Scale (M-ASHS); MSFsc and mid-sleep point were calculated to determine chronotypes and social jetlag. Prosocial behavior problems were assessed by the Strength and Difficult Questionnaire (SDQ). Multivariate logistic regression was applied to analyze the relationships between chronotype and social jetlag with prosocial behavior problems. Evening chronotype was associated with higher risk of prosocial behavior problems, whether among male (OR = 1.82, 95%CI:1.27–2.61, P = .001) or female adolescents (OR = 1.83, 95%CI:1.15–2.91, P = .011). Female adolescents with social jetlag of 1–2 hours had 1.60 times the risk of prosocial behavior problems than their peers whose social jetlag was <1 h (P = .028); social jetlag ≥ 2 h was positively associated with prosocial behavior problems in both male and female adolescents (OR = 1.79 and 2.45, respectively, both P < .05). Further, the combination of intermediate chronotype and social jetlag ≥ 2 h was correlated with prosocial behavior problems only in female adolescents (OR = 3.24, 95%CI = 1.40–9.21, P = .004). Evening chronotype and higher social jetlag were risk factors for prosocial behavior problems in adolescents, especially for the female. For the promotion of prosocial behavior in adolescents, the importance of circadian rhythm should be addressed.

KEYWORDS:

• Circadian rhythm
• chronotype
• social jetlag
• prosocial behavior
• adolescents

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Author contributions

SL, YG and ZL contributed to conception and design of the study. ZL written the first draft of the manuscript. AZ, YC participated in the data analysis and interpretation of analysis. YX and RL participated in data collection and sorting out. All authors contributed to manuscript revision, read, and approved the submitted version.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/07420528.2022.2127362.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.81874266, No. 81673183).