Age and chronotype influenced sleep timing changes during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Social restrictions necessary to reduce the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) profoundly changed how we socialised, worked and, for students, attended classes. Interestingly, significant sleep pattern shifts occurred in the context of pandemic-related social restrictions. Whether age and chronotype influenced these sleep pattern changes remains poorly understood. In this pre-registered (https://osf.io/4a3fx), web-based study, United States residents reported, in one-time assessments, demographic information, self-reported chronotype using the reduced Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire, and pre-pandemic and pandemic first wave sleep timing using the Ultrashort Munich Chronotype Questionnaire. Participants reported sleep phase delays, reduced social jetlag (SJL) and reduced social sleep restriction (SSR) during the first wave of the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic. Pandemic-related changes in SJL and SSR varied with participants' age and self-reported chronotype. Young adults reported the greatest reductions in SJL and young adults and individuals with evening chronotypes reported the greatest reductions in SSR. We conclude that these groups may have been the most vulnerable to social-biological sleep timing desynchrony under pre-pandemic social, occupational, and educational schedules.

Keywords: COVID-19; Munich chronotype questionnaire; age; chronotype; social jetlag; social sleep restriction.