Your score is 55.
YOUR MORNINGNESS-EVENINGNESS TYPE IS CONSIDERED TO BE INTERMEDIATE.
Morningness-eveningness scores range from 16-86. Scores of 41 and below indicate "evening types." Scores of 59 and above indicate "morning types." Scores between 42-58 indicate "intermediate types."
16-30 31-41 42-58 59-69 70-86
definite evening moderate evening intermediate moderate morning definite morning
Your score allows us to estimate when your brain begins to produce the nighttime hormone melatonin*, which normally occurs before you are ready to fall asleep.
WE ESTIMATE THAT YOUR MELATONIN ONSET OCCURS AT ABOUT 9:15 pm.
*saliva concentration of 3 picograms per milliliter
The time you are first able to fall asleep easily (assuming that you keep a regular sleep schedule) is related to the time that your brain begins to produce melatonin in the evening or at night.
WE ESTIMATE THAT YOUR "NATURAL" BEDTIME IS AT ABOUT 11:30 pm.
This information can be put to important use if you are trying to organize your daily schedule to best match with your circadian rhythm type. It is especially useful if you want to use light therapy to shift your rhythms in a desired direction (morning light shifts rhythms earlier; evening light shifts them later).
Appropriate timing of therapy can help you wake up more alert for a normal work day, reduce insomnia when you are trying to get to sleep, accommodate to shift work, prepare for (or recover from) long distance air travel, and even correct abnormal sleep patterns such as the Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome. Below, we specify two well-tested applications:
Light therapy is the first-line treatment for Seasonal Affective Disorder, eliminating or reducing the need to take drugs. People suffering with major depressive episodes in winter should seek supervision of treatment by a health professional knowledgeable about managing the symptoms. The personalized advice we give you here is based on a large clinical trial at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. That clinical trial used a 10,000 lux fluorescent light box with an overhead diffusing screen, for 30 minutes daily. (Other light box types might require longer exposure duration, or might be less effective. You should ask your doctor to help you make adjustments to maximize the antidepressant effect.)
If you are considering 10,000 lux light therapy to combat winter depression, your morningness-eveningness score indicates that YOUR OPTIMUM 30-MINUTE LIGHT TREATMENT SHOULD BEGIN AT 6:15 am.
You can try the same light timing, 6:15 am, to combat oversleeping and ease of rising in morning, whether or not you have winter depression.
Our recommendation provides only a general guideline. You may need to adjust the timing based on your experience during treatment. If you sleep longer than 7 hours per night, this schedule will require you to wake up earlier than usual for greatest benefit. Some people compensate by going to bed earlier, while others feel fine with shorter sleep.
But I will say, back in college, it was a lot different, 10:30-11pm was often the earliest I went to bed.
