Do you need an alarm clock to wake up in the morning?
Newly published research shows that awakening can occur either spontaneously, that is without using external stimuli such as an alarm clock (SAs - self-awakeners) or can be provoked by an external event such as an alarm clock (FAs - forced awakeners). Self-awakeners are able to wake up at the desired time in the absence of external means, while forced awakeners can wake up at a predetermined time only using external means.
Professor Fiorenza Giganti and Dr. Serena Malloggi, from the Department of Neurofarba at the University of Florence, Italy, in conjunction with the University of Campagna Luigi Vantivelli state that the self- awakening habit in the general population appears to change according to age, with higher percentages of self-awakeners amongst older subjects, and only 10% – 26% in young adults.
Although there are some physiological variables that contribute to self-awakening, psychological factors involved in the self-awakening ability are less explored. To study this further, their study aimed to explore sleep habits and features, subjective sleep and awakening quality, circadian preferences, personality traits, and anxiety and depression levels in selected self-awakeners and forced awakeners.
Preliminary results show that 15% of the sample reported to habitually wake up from nocturnal sleep without using external means – similar to those previously observed by studies conducted on samples of comparable age. Habitual self-awakeners reported:
more regular sleep-wake schedules compared to forced awakeners ie. Better sleep hygeine
higher rMEQ scores indicative of a morning preference. The rEMQ stands for ‘reduced Morning Eveningness Questionnaire’ and aims to get a feel for larks and owls
feeling more well-rested, waking up more refreshed and experiencing greater daytime alertness
Self awakeners show more evidence of conscientiousness, as evidenced by self control, self discipline and effective task planning than forced awakeners. However they are slightly less internally aroused and less self-sufficient. Furthermore, the FA group go to bed later and rise later at weekends than the SA group, which suggests less adherence to an overall routine. This of course is more likely to occur in younger age groups than more elderly subjects.
So what can we conclude from this?
It seems that psychological factors affect the ability of people to wake at a certain time without using an alarm clock. Although this may not be entirely surprising, there are some further questions it throws up. For instance, can this data also be extrapolated to those who habitually wake in the middle of the night?
I can almost feel a study coming on……