Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ)

Assess morningness and eveningness. Questions are framed in a preferential manner, where the respondent is asked to indicate when, for example, he/she would prefer to wake up or start sleep, rather than when he/she actually does.

Author / Source: Tony Ho, MSW, RSW

What time would you get up if you were entirely free to plan your day?

What time would you go to bed if you were entirely free to plan your evening?

If there is a specific time at which you have to get up in the morning, to what extent do you depend on being woken up by an alarm clock?

How easy do you find it to get up in the morning (when you are not woken up unexpectedly)?

How alert do you feel during the first half-hour after you wake up in the morning?

How hungry do you feel during the first half-hour after you wake up in the morning?

During the first half-hour after you wake up in the morning, how tired do you feel?

If you have no commitments the next day, what time would you go to bed compared to your usual bedtime?

You have decided to engage in some physical exercise. A friend suggests that you do this for one hour twice a week and the best time for him is between 7:00 – 8:00 am. Bearing in mind nothing but your own internal “clock”, how do you think you would perform?

At what time of day do you feel you become tired as a result of need for sleep?

You want to be at your peak performance for a test that you know is going to be mentally exhausting and will last for two hours. You are entirely free to plan your day. Considering only your own internal “clock”, which ONE of the four testing times would you choose?

If you got into bed at 11:00 PM, how tired would you be?

For some reason you have gone to bed several hours later than usual, but there is no need to get up at any particular time the next morning. Which ONE of the following are you most likely to do?

One night you have to remain awake between 4:00 – 6:00 AM in order to carry out a night watch. You have no commitments the next day. Which ONE of the alternatives will suite you best?

You have to do two hours of hard physical work. You are entirely free to plan your day and considering only your own internal “clock” which ONE of the following time would you choose?

You have decided to engage in hard physical exercise. A friend suggests that you do this for one hour twice a week and the best time for him is between 10:00 – 11:00 PM. Bearing in mind nothing else but your own internal “clock” how well do you think you would perform?

Suppose that you can choose your own work hours. Assume that you worked a FIVE hour day (including breaks) and that your job was interesting and paid by results). Which FIVE CONSECUTIVE HOURS would you select?

At what time of the day do you think that you reach your “feeling best” peak?

One hears about “morning” and “evening” types of people. Which ONE of these types do you consider yourself to be?

About

Original study in student population (18-32 years). Validated with oral temperature curves. Morning types had a significantly earlier peak time in the circadian peak than Evening types and tended to have a higher daytime temperature and lower post peak temperature.

16-30 - "definite evening"
31-41 - "moderate evening"
42-58 - "intermediate"
59-69 - "moderate morning"
70-86 - "definite morning"

When re-examined, original criteria of Horne and Ostberg (1976) studies showed different validity in different populations. In a validation study in a sample of middle-aged workers- (non-students): evening types were considered as scoring under 53 and morning types above 64, thus giving 28.1% morning type, 51.7% neither type and 20.2% evening type.

In 14 studies that used the MEQ in individuals without a diagnosis of circadian rhythm disorder and used objective circadian phase marker testing (e.g., core body temperature, DLMO), all studies found that subjects with a later circadian phase generally scored lower on the MEQ. Pearson’s correlation coefficients ranged widely from -0.353 to -0.760 in studies, possibly due to differences in study populations and study conditions.

Published Literature & References:

[1]
Horne JA, Östberg O. (1976).: "A self-assessment questionnaire to determine morningness-eveningness in human circadian rhythms". Int J Chronobiol 4 (2): 97–110.
[2]
Taillard J, et al. (2004).: "Validation of Horne and Ostberg Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire in a Middle-Aged Population of French Workers".Journal of Biological Rhythms 19 (1): 76–86.
[3]
Paine SJ, Gander PH, Travier N.(2006): The Epidemiology of Morningness/Eveningness: Influence of Age, Gender, Ethnicity, and Socioeconomic Factors in Adults (30-49 Years).J Biol Rhythms 21: 68-76.
[4]
Sack R, et al. (2007): Circadian Rhythm Sleep Disorders: Part I, Basic Principles, Shift Work and Jet Lag Disorders.Sleep 30(11): 1460-1483.
[5]
Cavallera GM, Boari G. (2015): Validation of the Italian Version of the Morningness-EveningnessQuestionnaire for Adolescents by A. Lancry and Th. Arbault.Med Sci Monit 21: 2685-93.
[6]
Zacharia T, et al. (2014): Development and standardization of Morningess-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) in the Indian language Kannada.Int Tinnitus J 19(1): 36-40.
[7]
Lee JH, et al. (2014): Reliability and valididty of the Korean version of Morningess-Eveningness Questionnaire in adults aged 20-39 years.Chronobiol Int 31(4): 479-86.
[8]
Diaz-Morales JF , et al. (2007): Validity of the Morningess-Eveningness Scale for Children among Spanish adolescents.Chronobiol Int. 24(3): 435-47.

Results

Real-time automated computation

0/1 calculated

Result

Awaiting input values...

Clinical Parameters (0/19)

Medical calculation formulas standardized according to evidence-based clinical protocols.

About

16-30 - "definite evening"
31-41 - "moderate evening"
42-58 - "intermediate"
59-69 - "moderate morning"
70-86 - "definite morning"

Published Literature & References:

[1]
Horne JA, Östberg O. (1976).: "A self-assessment questionnaire to determine morningness-eveningness in human circadian rhythms". Int J Chronobiol 4 (2): 97–110.
[2]
Taillard J, et al. (2004).: "Validation of Horne and Ostberg Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire in a Middle-Aged Population of French Workers".Journal of Biological Rhythms 19 (1): 76–86.
[3]
Paine SJ, Gander PH, Travier N.(2006): The Epidemiology of Morningness/Eveningness: Influence of Age, Gender, Ethnicity, and Socioeconomic Factors in Adults (30-49 Years).J Biol Rhythms 21: 68-76.
[4]
Sack R, et al. (2007): Circadian Rhythm Sleep Disorders: Part I, Basic Principles, Shift Work and Jet Lag Disorders.Sleep 30(11): 1460-1483.
[5]
Cavallera GM, Boari G. (2015): Validation of the Italian Version of the Morningness-EveningnessQuestionnaire for Adolescents by A. Lancry and Th. Arbault.Med Sci Monit 21: 2685-93.
[6]
Zacharia T, et al. (2014): Development and standardization of Morningess-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) in the Indian language Kannada.Int Tinnitus J 19(1): 36-40.
[7]
Lee JH, et al. (2014): Reliability and valididty of the Korean version of Morningess-Eveningness Questionnaire in adults aged 20-39 years.Chronobiol Int 31(4): 479-86.
[8]
Diaz-Morales JF , et al. (2007): Validity of the Morningess-Eveningness Scale for Children among Spanish adolescents.Chronobiol Int. 24(3): 435-47.