The Comparison of Executive Functions, Risk Behaviors, and Academic Motivation Among Adolescents With Chronology Type Morningness and Eveningness

Abstract

Objectives This research was conducted with the goal of comparison of executive functions, risk behav-iors, and academic motivation among adolescents with chronology type morningness and eveningness. Methods This is a comparative study in a population of high school students in Isfahan in 2014-15 aca-demic year. Accessible sampling was used as a sampling method in two phases. In the first phase 320 students were selected, and in the second phase, 106 students with different chronology types were chosen as a final sample. The data gathered by using Horne and Östberg's Morningness-eveningness questionnaire, Mohammadi and his colleagues' Iranian Adolescents Risk Scale, Abdekhodaee's Achieve-ment motivation questionnaire, and Wisconsin card sorting test. Independent samples t test and Mann-Whitney U test were employed for analyzing data using SPSS-21. Results Significant relationship was found between two aspects of executive functions containing pres-ervation error and incorrect answers responses, and chronology types (P<0.05), whereas no significant relationship existed in other aspects. In addition, morningness and eveningness chronology types were significantly different among adolescents in terms of risky behaviors and academic motivation (P<0.05). Conclusion The adolescents with morningness chronology type performed better in executive function and academic motivation in comparison with eveningness type and had lower risky behaviors.