An Investigation of the Correlation Between Chronotype and Academic Achievement Among College Students in Diverse Disciplines

Abstract

Background: The body's circadian rhythm is essential for the regulation of various biological processes such as physical capacity and primarily on sleep-wake cycle. Changes in circadian rhythm can cause chronic disorders and diminished sleep. In fact, over a day, an individual's preferred time for activeness and sleeping can be shown with the concept of morningness-eveningness. Five chronotypes are known: Morning, moderate morning, Noon, moderate Evening and Evening types. Inter individual differences in chronotypes need to be addressed to minimize the negative consequences of circadian interruption on academic percentage. Aim: In the present study, we aimed to investigate the effects of chronotype on academic performance among different streams (Science, Arts and Commerce) students of our college. A cross-sectional comparative research was carried out among 300 students of 3 streams of Bachelor Degree (100 students of Arts, 100 students of Science and 100 students of Commerce) in the Dharam Samaj PG College, Aligarh of Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh State University, Aligarh (Utter Pradesh) India. Methodology: The participants were well informed about the study and asked to sign a written informed consent. All the participants were asked to keep a diary record of their wake-up time, bedtime, sleep duration and sleep latency during working days and weekends. Results: The result shows all 3 streams of Bachelor degree, the students with average grades tended to be the evening chronotype with below the average percentage 45-55% (Grade C), intermediate (N- type) students with average percentage 56-62% (Grade B) and morning chronotype students with toppers percentage 62-88% (Grade A). Students with average grade C tended to have a later bed times during weekdays and weekends, longer weekends sleep, and were more evening directed.