Evaluation of a dawn simulator in children and adolescents

Abstract

During adolescence, young people shift their circadian rhythm towards eveningness and their late chronotype does not fit into the morning-oriented school start times. Here, we tested the influence of a wake-up light (WuL; dawn simulation) on the subjective well-being and awakening of children and adolescents. The pupils were treated in a matched pairs procedure to obtain a within-subject comparison. Each individual used his/her usual device for getting up during one week (control week) and one week with the WuL. The sample was based on 44 boys and 59 girls from 7 to 18 years. During the WuL week, pupils awoke earlier, felt more alert at awakening, got up easier and reported a higher alertness during the second lesson at school. Evening types benefited more than morning types. The data suggest that the WuL seems a good device to improve rising, awakening and subjective well-being in children and adolescents, especially in evening types.

Keywords:

• adolescents
• awakening
• chronotype
• dawn simulation
• treatment-control study
• well-being

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to all pupils, parents, teachers and principals of the schools who supported our study.