Morningness/eveningness, pubertal timing, and substance use in adolescent girls
Introduction
Substance use is a substantial problem in adolescence. The latest findings from the Monitoring the Future study still show widespread substance use among adolescents in the United States. Twenty percent of 12th graders reported smoking in the past 30 days whereas 45% reported any lifetime use (Johnston et al., 2009). Marijuana use among high school students increased, with over 11% of 8th graders and 32% of 12 graders reporting use in the last year while 14% and 45% reported use at some time in their life. Although alcohol use among adolescents has decreased since its peak in the mid-1990s, 32% of 8th graders and over 65% of 12th graders still report use in the last year (Johnston et al., 2009).
Early initiation of substance use in adolescence is a risk factor for later substance abuse and has been linked to other negative events such as motor vehicle accidents, drug abuse, unwanted pregnancies, depression, and suicide (Grant and Dawson, 1997, Grant and Dawson, 1998, Grant, 1998). In addition, substance use tends to be associated with psychopathology. Individuals who use substances report higher rates of disruptive behavior disorders, depressive symptoms, and externalizing problems (Fergusson et al., 2007, Lansford et al., 2008).
Substance use can be affected by a number of factors. One factor that may increase the risk is the adolescent's sleep/wake preference. Sleep preference (Morningness versus Eveningness) is based on chronobiology and circadian rhythms (Tankova et al., 1994, Young and Kay, 2001). Individual differences in sleep preference are often viewed on a continuum with the extremes of the scale being referred to as Morning or Evening type. Morning types awaken early, are refreshed upon awakening, and go to bed early, whereas Evening types have difficulty rising in the morning, are tired when awakening, and stay up late. Morning types prefer doing mental and physical activity in the morning, whereas evening types prefer these activities later in the day (Goldstein et al., 2007). Evening types have irregular sleep–wake schedules; they go to bed later, wake up later, sleep more on weekends than on school nights, and complain of sleep debt compared to Morning types (Giannotti et al., 2002). Younger children tend to be Morning types, although as they enter adolescence, particularly puberty (Randler, 2008b, Tonetti et al., 2008), the preference shifts to Evening type; they begin going to sleep later and will stay asleep later when permitted (Wolfson and Carskadon, 1998, Cavallera and Giudici, 2008). Eveningness has been found to affect various areas of functioning. Evening types have more attention problems, emotional problems, and depressive symptoms as well as lower self-control and poorer school achievement than Morning types (Giannotti et al., 2002, Digdon and Howell, 2008, Gaspar-Barba et al., 2009, Pabst et al., 2009). Eveningness is also associated with health problems such as menstrual symptoms, asthma, and migraines (Bruni et al., 2008, Ferraz et al., 2008, Negriff and Dorn, 2009).
In addition to the various other problematic behaviors evidenced by Evening types, an Evening preference may also increase the risk of substance use. Previous research has found that Eveningness is related to antisocial behavior in both pre- and early pubertal adolescents (Susman et al., 2007). Adolescents with Evening preference may stay out later, attend late night parties, or need substances such as nicotine or caffeine to counteract the effects of erratic sleep patterns. Evidence show that individuals with Evening preference consume more alcohol and nicotine than Morning types (Adan, 1994, Wittmann et al., 2006, Randler, 2008a) and these associations appear to be stronger in adolescents than adults (Wittmann et al., 2006). Other studies show that Evening type adolescents tend to use alcohol and nicotine more frequently than Morning types (Giannotti et al., 2002) and to use more habitually (Gau et al., 2007).
Pubertal timing is another factor found to affect the initiation and prolonged use of substances. In particular, there is a strong association between early pubertal timing and early use of cigarettes and alcohol for both males and females (Ge et al., 2006b, Bratberg et al., 2007, Westling et al., 2008, Downing and Bellis, 2009). In one study early developing females were 3.7 times more likely to have tried cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana than non-early maturers (Lanza and Collins, 2002), whereas another showed that girls with early puberty reported smoking their first cigarette about 7 months earlier than girls with later puberty (Wilson et al., 1994). Similarly, early maturers were found to use alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana with more regularity and frequency than non-early maturers (Tschann et al., 1994). Early maturing girls also initiated alcohol use at a younger age than later maturing girls (Deardorff et al., 2005), and early maturation was related to more alcohol use (Wichstrom, 2001).
Overall, there is substantial evidence that early pubertal timing puts an adolescent at increased risk for substance use. However, one study found late timing to be associated with more alcohol use in a sample of 11–17 year old girls (Marklein et al., 2009). Still others report a pubertal timing effect on substance use when moderators such as parenting, peer substance use, or school and neighborhood context were considered (Foshee et al., 2007). Moderators provide useful information about conditions that may amplify or alleviate the risks associated with early puberty. Identifying the early roots of substance use with regard to the risk factors of sleep preference and timing of puberty may inform early substance use prevention. In particular, early timing may increase the risk of substance use for adolescents with Evening preference, more so than early maturers with Morning preference. For Evening types, their proclivity for late night activities may provide more exposure and opportunity for substance use. In addition, being an early maturer may increase the risk for substance use because early pubertal timing is linked to more exposure to older peers and deviant peers who may be engaging in substance use (Stattin and Magnusson, 1990, Haynie, 2003, Lynne et al., 2007).
There is substantial evidence that both early pubertal timing and Evening preference are individually associated with substance use. However, the studies showing an association between Eveningness and substance use have all been conducted on samples outside of the United States and no studies have examined the interaction effect between Morningness/Eveningness and pubertal timing on substance use. Therefore, the aims of this study were a) to examine the associations between Morningness/Eveningness and alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use and b) to examine the interaction between pubertal timing and sleep preference on substance use in adolescent girls. It was hypothesized that Eveningness would be associated with greater use of all three substances, and that girls with Evening preference and early pubertal timing would show higher substance use than on-time or late maturing girls.
Section snippets
Participants
Participants included adolescent girls (N = 262) enrolled in an ongoing longitudinal study on smoking, mood, and their potential effects on bone and reproductive health (Dorn et al., 2008). Data for the present study were from the first assessment which took place from December 2003 to October 2007. Girls were primarily Caucasian (62.8%) or African American (32.8%). The remaining 5.3% of the girls represented mixed-race or other race/ethnicities and were combined with the African American group.
Descriptive statistics
The descriptive statistics can be found in Table 1. Mean differences in M/E between the pubertal timing groups were tested and no significant differences were found (F (2, 256) = 1.04, P > 0.05).
Morningness/Eveningness and substance use: total sample
The first aim was to examine the associations between M/E and alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use for the total sample. The path model was fully saturated producing a perfect fit to the data. There were significant associations between M/E and all three types of substance use. (See Fig. 1 and Table 2.)
Discussion
This study examined the associations between Morningness/Eveningness and alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use in adolescent girls and the interaction between Morningness/Eveningness and pubertal timing on substance use. As hypothesized, the results showed that for the total sample Evening preference was associated with higher use of all three substances. In addition, for early and on-time maturers, Eveningness was associated with more cigarette use than for late maturers. However, there were
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by Grant Number R01 DA 16402, National Institute of Drug Abuse, NIH. PI: Lorah D. Dorn, Ph.D., U.S.P.H.S. Grant Number UL1RR026314 from the National Center for Research Resources, NIH, and by National Research Service Award Training Grant 1T32PE10027.
References (67)
- et al.
Morningness–eveningness and early-morning salivary cortisol levels
Biological Psychology
(1991) - et al.
Relationships between headache and sleep in a non-clinical population of children and adolescents
Sleep Medicine
(2008) - et al.
Morningness and eveningness personality: a survey in literature from 1995 up till 2006
Personality and Individual Differences
(2008) - et al.
Which adolescent experimenters progress to established smoking in the United States
American Journal of Preventive Medicine
(1997) - et al.
Pathways to adolescent health sleep regulation and behavior
The Journal of Adolescent Health
(2002) - et al.
Conduct and attentional problems in childhood and adolescence and later substance use, abuse and dependence: results of a 25-year longitudinal study
Drug and Alcohol Dependence
(2007) - et al.
Depressive symptomotology is influenced by chronotypes
Journal of Affective Disorders
(2009) - et al.
Self-report of circadian type reflects the phase of the melatonin rhythm
Biological Psychology
(1999) - et al.
Time of day, intellectual performance, and behavioral problems in morning versus evening type adolescents: is there a synchrony effect?
Personality and Individual Differences
(2007) Age at smoking onset and its association with alcohol consumption and DSM-IV alcohol abuse and dependence: results from the National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey
Journal of Substance Abuse
(1998)
Age at onset of alcohol use and its association with DSM-IV alcohol abuse and dependence: results from the National longitudinal alcohol epidemiologic survey
Journal of Substance Abuse
Age of onset of drug use and its association with DSM-IV drug abuse and dependence: results from the National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey
Journal of Substance Abuse
Sleep problems and substance use in adolescence
Drug and Alcohol Dependence
Inter-individual differences in the human circadian system: a review
Biological Psychology
Links between pubertal timing, peer influences, and externalizing behaviors among urban students followed through middle school
The Journal of Adolescent Health
Morningness–eveningness and menstrual symptoms in adolescent girls
Journal of Psychosomatic Research
Depression and anxiety in adolescent females: the impact of sleep preference and body mass index
The Journal of Adolescent Health
NIMH diagnostic interview schedule for children, version IV (NIMH DISC-IV): description, differences from previous versions, and reliability of some common diagnoses
Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Circadian typology and individual differences: a review
Personality and Individual Differences
The reality of comorbidity: depression and drug abuse
Biological Psychiatry
Pubertal timing and substance use: the effects of gender, parental monitoring and deviant peers
The Journal of Adolescent Health
Chronotype and personality factors in the daily consumption of alcohol and psychostimulants
Addiction
A generalized solution for approximating the power to detect effects of categorical moderator variables using multiple regression
Organizational Research Methods
Community studies on adolescent substance use, abuse, or dependence and psychiatric comorbidity
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
Individual differences in the phase and amplitude of the human circadian temperature rhythm: with an emphasis on morningness–eveningness
Journal of Sleep Research
Perceived pubertal timing, pubertal status and the prevalence of alcohol drinking and cigarette smoking in early and late adolescence: a population based study of 8950 Norwegian boys and girls
Acta Paediatrica
Association between puberty and delayed phase preference
Sleep: Journal of Sleep Research & Sleep Medicine
Unraveling girls' delinquency: biological, dispositional, and contextual contributions to adolescent misbehavior
Developmental Psychology
The natural history of cigarette smoking: predicting young-adult smoking outcomes from adolescent smoking patterns
Health Psychology
Parental involvement, psychological distress, and sleep: a preliminary examination in sleep-disturbed adolescents with a history of substance abuse
Journal of Family Psychology
Early puberty and adolescent pregnancy: the influence of alcohol use
Pediatrics
College students who have an eveningness preference report lower self-control and greater procrastination
Chronobiology International
Cited by (50)
Impact of Sleep Duration and Chronotype on Cardiac Structure and Function: The UK Biobank Study
2023, Current Problems in CardiologyCircadian rhythms and substance use disorders: A bidirectional relationship
2021, Pharmacology Biochemistry and BehaviorDrowsy Driving, Sleep Duration, and Chronotype in Adolescents
2019, Journal of PediatricsModifying the Impact of Eveningness Chronotype (“Night-Owls”) in Youth: A Randomized Controlled Trial
2018, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent PsychiatryAddiction and Sleep disorders: Craving and circadian rhythms. An overview
2016, Medecine du SommeilMeasures of circadian preference in childhood and adolescence: A review
2015, European PsychiatryCitation Excerpt :As shown in Table 1 and Supplementary Table 2, the psychometric properties of the MESC have been reported in studies based on American, Australian, Croatian, Dutch, Hong Kong-Chinese, Israeli, Italian, Spanish, Taiwanese and Turkish samples. Of the 25 studies that reported Cronbach's alpha values, five presented scores of ≥ 0.80 [23,24,27,49,83], fourteen studies reported values between 0.70 and 0.79 [3,17,18,20,21,25,26,31,38,42,43,48,51,78], while six showed values < 0.70 [8,16,28,29,40,46]. Two studies reported test-retest reliability assessed through correlation analyses (Table 1 and Supplementary Table 2).