Napping and morningness-eveningness

Abstract

Our main aim in this work was to investigate the difference in napping behavior in relation to morningness and eveningness. We assessed morningness, eveningness, habitual sleep-wake times and different measures of napping, namely, start time, end time and duration on both weekdays and weekend days. Napping start time did not differ between weekdays and weekends, but napping ended later  on weekends. Morning affect positively and eveningness negatively were related to nap end on weekend, nap duration on weekdays/weekend, average nap duration, and midpoint of napping on free days (MNF_c). Nap duration was related to morningness and eveningness, with evening-oriented people napping longer. Midpoint of sleep and midpoint of napping were also positively correlated. Further, longer naps do not seem to compensate for lack of sleep on weekdays. As a conclusion, we identified napping as a correlate of morningness, eveningness and midpoint of sleep.

Keywords:

• Siesta
• morningness-eveningness
• daytime sleep
• napping, chronotype, circadian rhythms

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all the participants who helped us to accomplish our study.