Chronotype and emotion processing: a pilot study testing timing of online cognitive bias modification training

Background

Circadian rhythms influence cognitive performance which peaks in the morning for early chronotypes and evening for late chronotypes. It is unknown whether cognitive interventions are susceptible to such synchrony effects and could be optimised at certain times-of-day.

Objective

A pilot study testing whether the effectiveness of cognitive bias modification (CBM) for facial emotion processing was improved when delivered at a time-of-day that was synchronised to chronotype.

Methods

173 healthy young adults (aged 18–25) with an early or late chronotype completed one online session of CBM training in either the morning (06:00 hours to 10:00 hours) or evening (18:00 hours to 22:00 hours).

Findings

Moderate evidence that participants learnt better (higher post-training balance point) when they completed CBM training in the synchronous (evening for late chronotypes, morning for early chronotypes) compared with asynchronous (morning for late chronotypes, evening for early chronotypes) condition, controlling for pre-training balance point, sleep quality and negative affect. There was also a groupxcondition interaction where late chronotypes learnt faster and more effectively in synchronous versus asynchronous conditions.

Conclusions

Preliminary evidence that synchrony effects apply to this psychological intervention. Tailoring the delivery timing of CBM training to chronotype may optimise its effectiveness. This may be particularly important for late chronotypes who were less able to adapt to non-optimal times-of-day, possibly because they experience more social jetlag.

Clinical implications

To consider delivery timing of CBM training when administering to early and late chronotypes. This may generalise to other psychological interventions and be relevant for online interventions where the timing can be flexible.