Chronotype, daily affect and social contact: An ecological momentary assessment study

Eveningness is associated with lower daily positive affect (PA). The relationship between negative affect (NA) and chronotype, however, is less consistent in the literature. Eveningness may be further characterized by increased social isolation, which could explain the associations between chronotype and PA/NA. In the present longitudinal study, we used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to investigate the associations of chronotype with daily PA, NA, and social contact in individuals with current and remitted major depressive disorder (MDD) and healthy controls. As part of the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA), 279 participants (n = 49 depressed, n = 172 remitted, n = 58 controls) monitored daily PA, NA, and social contact (i.e., being alone vs. with others) for two weeks, five times per day. Overall, eveningness was associated with less social contact. This effect became nonsignificant, however, after accounting for sociodemographics (gender, age, education, living situation). Chronotype was not related to PA or NA. Less social contact was associated with lower PA and higher NA independent of chronotype. In conclusion, we could not replicate the finding of lower PA among evening types, but found social contact to associate with both daily PA and NA.