People over 60 feel younger in the morning: a good time of day to enhance wellbeing?

Badham, SP ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6890-102X, Park, MS-A ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1269-6856, Nair, A and Pilkington-Cheney, F ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8043-3137, 2026. People over 60 feel younger in the morning: a good time of day to enhance wellbeing? Chronobiology International. ISSN 0742-0528

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Abstract

There is a global push to develop interventions to support older adults, but their receptiveness to adapt their behaviour may depend on changes in their alertness and wellness throughout the day. In a sample of 86 participants over 60 years old from the UK, measures of positive ageing, subjective age (e.g., how old do you feel?), daytime sleepiness, and need for cognitive closure (NFC, representing receptiveness to change) were taken at optimal and non-optimal times of day based on participants’ responses to a chronotype questionnaire (the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire). Relative to the evening, participants felt younger in the morning and less sleepy, but reported similar levels of positivity about ageing and NFC at both time points. Although NFC did not change throughout the day, it was related to sleepiness such that participants who were sleepier may have been less receptive to change. Our sample were largely morning types in line with existing literature on older adults’ chronotypes. Relative to evening, morning time may be related to feeling more alert, less sleepy and younger, and may be a generally more positive time for older adults. This highlights the potential to time the delivery of age-related interventions to maximise older adults’ wellbeing.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Chronobiology International
Creators:	Badham, S.P., Park, M.S.-A., Nair, A. and Pilkington-Cheney, F.
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Date:	26 March 2026
ISSN:	0742-0528
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1080/07420528.2026.2648753 DOI 2595963 Other
Rights:	This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Chronobiology International on 26 March 2026, available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/07420528.2026.2648753
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Laura Borcherds
Date Added:	27 Mar 2026 08:33
Last Modified:	27 Mar 2026 08:33
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/55471

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