School start times matter, eveningness does not

ABSTRACT

Morningness–Eveningness (M–E) has been associated with school performance when school activities are arranged early in the morning. This study aims to evaluate this association in 224 adolescents of a secondary school in Montevideo, Uruguay, attending either morning or afternoon shifts. Students’ socio-demographic characteristics and performance indicators were similar across shifts, while afternoon-shift students exhibited later circadian preferences. After controlling for socio-demographic and other educational variables, eveningness was associated with lower grades only in morning-shift students. Our study suggests that eveningness influence on school performance is contingent on the temporal arrangement of scholar activities.

KEYWORDS:

• Adolescence
• GPA
• Morningness–Evenigness
• school shift

Acknowledgments

We are very grateful with the educational community of Liceo 10 Carlos Vaz Ferreira, Montevideo for the collaboration in this study. We also need to thank Andrés Oliveri y Alejo Acuña who helped in data acquisition.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by PEDECIBA (Programa de Desarrollo de las Ciencias Básicas, Uruguay) and ANII (Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación, Uruguay) through  a graduate fellowship to IE.