Later Chronotype Is Associated with Higher Alcohol Consumption and More Adverse Childhood Experiences in Young Healthy Women

Evelin Hug; Katja Winzeler; Monique C Pfaltz; Christian Cajochen; Klaus Bader

doi:10.3390/clockssleep1010012

Later Chronotype Is Associated with Higher Alcohol Consumption and More Adverse Childhood Experiences in Young Healthy Women

Clocks Sleep. 2019 Feb 12;1(1):126-139. doi: 10.3390/clockssleep1010012. eCollection 2019 Mar.

Authors

Evelin Hug¹, Katja Winzeler¹, Monique C Pfaltz^{2

3}, Christian Cajochen^{4

5}, Klaus Bader¹

Affiliations

¹ CBT Unit, Center for Specific Psychotherapy, Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Basel, Wilhelm Klein-Strasse 27, 4002 Basel, Switzerland.
² Department of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, Haldenbachstrasse 18, 8091 Zürich, Switzerland.
³ University of Zurich, 8006 Zurich, Switzerland.
⁴ Centre for Chronobiology, Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Basel, Wilhelm Klein-Strasse 27, 4002 Basel, Switzerland.
⁵ Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, 4055 Basel, Switzerland.

Abstract

This study aimed at examining potential associations of mid sleep timing (chronotype) and social jetlag with intake of alcohol and caffeine, depressive symptoms, and body mass index (BMI) in a sample of healthy young women. Furthermore, it was explored whether these behavioral sleep-wake parameters are associated with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). In total, 146 women (21.7 ± 1.7 years) took part in a two-week assessment on daily consumption of alcohol and caffeine. They completed questionnaires on ACEs, chronotype, sleep quality and depressive symptoms. Partial correlations and Chi-Square tests were calculated to assess the relationships between the assessed variables. Results show an association on a trend level for chronotype (r = 0.162, p = 0.053) and a significant association for social jetlag (r = 0.169, p = 0.044) with average alcohol intake. Furthermore, participants with above-median ACEs were more likely to be late chronotypes compared to the below-median group (X2(2) = 6.595, p = 0.037). We could replicate the association among late chronotype, social jetlag and higher alcohol consumption in a sample of healthy, young women. Furthermore, our results suggest a relationship between ACEs and chronotype. Although it can be hypothesized that it is rather ACEs that have an impact on chronotype, further research is needed to explore this relationship more and to shed more light on the direction of the association between chronotype and ACEs as well as on underlying mechanisms and possible mediators.

Keywords: adverse childhood experiences; alcohol; caffeine; chronotype; social jetlag; women.