Adaptation of the morningness eveningness scale for children into Turkish

Abstract

Circadian rhythm refers to individuals’ preference associated with morning or evening activities. Circadian rhythm generally is measured by self reported instruments. One of these instruments is Morningness Eveningness Scale for Children (MESC). The aims of the study were to adapt MESC into Turkish, to determine psychometric properties of Turkish MESC and to assess chronotype preference in children aged from 9 to 12. A group of 515 children (4th to 6th graders) participated in the study. The explanatory factor analysis on the 10 items of the Turkish MESC revealed three orthogonal factors. Moreover, results of second order confirmatory factor analysis indicated that three factor structure of MESC explains morningness eveningness preference. The internal consistency and external validity of the Turkish MESC was sufficient and similar to previous studies. In overall, MESC is a valid and reliable instrument and can be used to assess circadian preferences in Turkish samples.

Keywords:

• chronotype
• diurnal preference
• morningness eveningness
• reliability and validity

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Professor Mary A. Carskadon for having provided the MESC and authorized its use. The authors also thank the students who participated in the study.