Scientists have linked late sleep patterns to mental health problems

People who prefer to stay up late and get up late are more likely to experience symptoms and diagnoses related to mental health than those who are used to starting the day early. A new study has shown that this connection is especially noticeable in people with a pronounced evening chronotype: it is more difficult for them to recover from work and separate work responsibilities from their personal lives. Why the habit of staying up late can be associated with anxiety and depression and what role the work schedule plays in this is in the Izvestia material.

Why is it harder for owls to recover from work?

The study was conducted by specialists from the University of Eastern Finland. It was attended by 2,266 working people of working age. The participants were divided into three groups depending on their chronotype: morning, evening and intermediate. The researchers assessed the symptoms of anxiety and depression, the extent to which work activities continue to affect free time, and a person's ability to recover after a day at work. The results are published in the journal Sleep Health.

The authors found that people with evening chronotype are more likely to have mental health problems. This connection was especially pronounced among the so—called extreme evening types - people whose internal biological clock is especially strongly shifted towards late hours.

At the same time, the researchers were interested not only in what time a person prefers to go to bed. They wanted to understand whether the relationship between chronotype and mental health could be explained by the peculiarities of everyday life. In particular, scientists studied how well a person manages to switch between work and rest and how well he manages to recover after a day at work.

It turned out that these factors may be especially important for people with a pronounced evening chronotype. They often have difficulty recovering from work and maintaining the boundary between work and personal time. For anxiety disorders, this connection was particularly noticeable.

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What is a chronotype and why do some people like to get up early and others like to stay up late?

The formation of a chronotype is influenced by the work of the circadian system, the body's internal biological clock. They regulate not only sleep and wakefulness, but also many other processes that change throughout the day.

At the same time, the evening chronotype in itself does not mean the presence of any disease. Problems can arise when a person's natural regime does not match well with the demands of the surrounding life. For example, a person may feel most awake late at night, but at the same time be forced to get up early for work. As a result, he has to start the day when the body is not yet ready for active activity.

A new study shows that for people with a pronounced evening chronotype, not only the sleep pattern itself can become an important problem, but also the need to constantly adjust to their work schedule. If a person does not have time to fully switch to rest after a working day, recovery may become more difficult.

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Work continues to affect your personal life

One of the key concepts of the study was the transfer of experience between activities (work-life spillover), a situation where work responsibilities and experiences continue to affect personal time. For example, a person formally ends a working day, but continues to think about tasks, respond to work messages, or worry emotionally about what happened at work.

For evening chronotypes, this problem may be particularly noticeable. If their biological rhythm does not match the established work schedule, there is less time for a full recovery. The work ends, but the body may need additional time to move from a state of activity to a state of rest.

Researchers have found that difficulties recovering from work are associated with an increased risk of mental health problems in evening types. This was especially evident in relation to anxiety disorders.

At the same time, the authors separately note that evening types, on average, had less healthy habits. However, lifestyle differences did not fully explain the link between evening chronotype, work-life balance difficulties, and mental health. In other words, it may be not only that the "owls" eat, sleep or spend their free time differently, but also how their internal rhythm is combined with the demands of work.

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Why do scientists suggest taking chronotype into account at work

According to the researchers, the results obtained can be useful not only for studying sleep, but also for organizing the workflow. If people with different chronotypes recover from work in different ways, a universal schedule may not suit them the same way.

The authors believe that when assessing mental health risks, it is important to take into account not only a person's individual characteristics, but also how they interact with their working conditions. For evening chronotypes, it may be especially important to be able to recover normally after a working day and maintain the boundary between professional duties and personal life.

At the same time, the study shows a link, rather than proving that the late chronotype directly causes anxiety or depressive disorders. Therefore, the results do not mean that anyone who likes to stay up late will necessarily face mental health problems. We are talking about the increased severity of certain problems in people with the evening type, and especially about the role of recovery after work and the balance between different spheres of life.