Age-related chronotype differences in Chinese, and reliability assessment of a reduced version of the Chinese Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire

There has been a lot of international research on morning/evening preference, but relatively little has been done in mainland China. This study investigated whether the trend for increased morning preference in older adults, which has been a consistent finding in chronotype research in many countries, is also found in Chinese. Using the Chinese translation of the MorningnessEveningness Questionnaire (MEQ), it was found that a sample of 305 Beijing residents, aged 1887, showed a significant correlation between MEQ score and age (r = 0.595), and that participants aged 50+ showed significantly more morning preference compared to younger participants. Additionally, a reliability assessment of the 5-question reduced MEQ (rMEQ) was undertaken. Testretest assessment, involving a separate sample (n= 114), showed significant correlations between rMEQ and MEQ scores (r = 0.768), and between chronotype classifications (r = 0.524), supporting the reliability of the Chinese rMEQ.