Sleep Habits and Chronotype Effects on Academic and Cognitive Performance in Spanish Adolescents: A Review

The increasing interest in the way in which morningness-eveningness affects psychological
functioning is remarkable in recent years. Accumulating evidence demonstrates that time of day
preferences and sleep habits have an influence on cognitive and school performance and adolescent's
health. Our research team has been analysing the role of chronotype, sleep length and sleep
irregularity in academic and cognitive performance among high school Spanish students aged 12-16.
All students were tested in a naturalistic setting, at school, throughout their school day, which
started in the early morning (8:00-8:30 H) and finished in the late morning/early afternoon (13:55-
14:15 H). The aim of this article is to review and summarise our research examining the relationship
between chronotype, sleep habits, and academic and cognitive performance among pre-adolescents
and adolescents. We also analyzed the effects of morningness-eveningness on health and anxiety as
they might be considered potential negative factors with an indirect effect on academic performance.