Summary: Chronic sleep loss – a result of staying up late all the time – is associated with increased risk of several negative mental health outcomes, which mindfulness can help mitigate.
Key Points:
- Research shows there are three chronotypes, i.e. patterns of behavior that remain stable day-to-day: evening types, morning types, and no-preference types.
- 60% of adults are no-preference types, with the remaining 40% a near-even split between evening types and morning types
- Evening types are at increased risk of depression, rumination, and drinking alcohol.
- Specific mindfulness skills can decrease risk of some negative outcomes, but not others
Night Owls and Mental Health
In general, young adults – whether in the workforce or at college – stay up late more often than any other demographic group, with the exception of adolescents. While this behavior is common and tends to change as young adults approach middle age, evidence shows people who stay up late are at greater risk of developing mental health issues such as depression and/or anxiety.
Evidence published here and here show mental health problems associated with being a night owl as opposed to a morning person can include increased risk of major depressive disorder (MDD), which remains after controlling for:
- Economic factors
- Demographic factors
- Health factors
- Sleep quality
- Insomnia diagnosis
In addition, evidence shows night owls both with and without a diagnosis of MDD show higher levels of depressive symptoms, compared to morning people with and without a diagnosis of MDD.
In the study we mention above – “Mindfulness Mediates the Association Between Chronotype and Depressive Symptoms in Young Adults” – a team of researchers from Virginia Tech University designed an experiment to answer two questions:
- What is the impact of staying up late on depression, rumination, alcohol consumption, mindfulness, and sleep quality?
- For people who stay up late, do rumination, mindfulness, sleep quality, and alcohol consumption have an impact on mental health symptoms associated with depression?
Before we dive into the details of the study, let’s define what the study authors mean by the term they use in the title of their study, chronotype, and the terms we see in their research questions, rumination and mindfulness.
Chronotype, Rumination, and Mindfulness
This is a basic but perfectly accurate and acceptable definition of chronotype:
“An individual’s activity-rest preference over a 24-hour period.”
Experts identify three specific chronotypes:
- E-types, or evening types, a.k.a. night owls, or people who identify as a night person.
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- 15%-25% of adults
- E-types go to bed later, get up later, and are at their best later in the day.
- M-types, or morning types, a.k.a. early birds, or people who identify as a morning person.
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- 15%-25% of adults
- M-types go to be earlier, get up earlier, and are at their best earlier in the day
- N-types, or neither types, are people who don’t consider themselves night people or morning people, but somewhere in between.
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- 60% of adults
- Bedtime and wake up time for N-types varies by need. Energy levels of N-types adjust to meet their current schedule.
Here are definitions of the remaining terms, rumination and mindfulness, provided by mental health experts:
- Rumination: Engaging in dysfunctional, negative, repetitive thoughts about past events.
- Mindfulness: The awareness that arises from paying attention in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally, to the unfolding of experience.
Now that we’re on the same page with the terminology used in the study, let’s take a look at what the researchers found.
How Chronotype Affects Mental Health and Behavior
The first question the research team sought to answer was whether staying up late had an impact on mental health, i.e. the impact of chronotype on frequency of symptoms of depression. They also explored the relationship between staying up late and rumination and alcohol consumption.
When compared to early birds/morning people and people with no specific chronotype, night owls/night people showed:
- More symptoms of depression
- Lower quality of sleep
- Low ability to behave mindfully:
- Lower levels of acting with awareness
- Lower levels of describing with awareness
- Higher rates of rumination
- Higher rates of alcohol consumption.
The data clearly show that staying up late – the defining characteristic of E-types – is significantly associated with increased depression, decreased mindfulness, and increased alcohol consumption.
Now let’s look at the second question the research team asked: for people who stay up late, what factors have an impact on mental health?
Mindfulness For Night Owls: Impact on Mental Health
- Ability to act with awareness showed strong correlation with lower risk of depressive symptoms
- Low/no ability to act with awareness showed strong correlation with higher risk of depressive symptoms
- Ability to nonjudgmentally describe showed strong correlation with lower risk of depressive symptoms
- Low/no ability to nonjudgmentally describe showed strong correlation with elevated risk of depressive symptoms
The data clearly demonstrates the following:
E-types with mindfulness skills showed lower risk of depressive symptoms.
We’ll elaborate on the importance of that finding below. First, let’s look at what the researchers learned about the relationship between sleep quality and mental health among people who like to stay up late.
Sleep Quality and Night Owls: Impact on Mental Health
- Poor quality of sleep correlated strongly with increased risk of depressive symptoms
- Good sleep quality correlated strongly with decreased risk of depressive symptoms
While quality sleep is not necessarily something we associate with night owls, the fact is that it’s possible to get high quality sleep if you get to bed late. And those who do stay up late and get quality sleep show a lower risk of depressive symptoms than people who stay up late and get poor quality sleep.
Note: surprising data around alcohol consumption:
Alcohol consumption among night owls was associated with decreased risk of depressive symptoms, which contradicts previous research on the relationship between alcohol and depression. However, rates of alcohol consumption among E-types was low, with weekly levels of alcohol consumption below the threshold for increased depression risk.
We’ll close this article by circling back to elaborate on the significance of the role mindfulness may play for people who stay up late and at risk of developing mental health problems such as depression.
Mindfulness and Depression Risk
Let’s review what we know, based on the data in this study.
First, chronotype can have an impact on the likelihood of developing symptoms associated with mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety. Second, people who stay up late, those with the E chronotype, show increased risk of experiencing depressive symptoms. Third, various factors can mediate – meaning either increase or decrease – the relationship between chronotype and mental health symptoms. Fourth, and finally, evidence shows that among E-types, mindfulness is the most powerful protective factor for reducing depressive symptoms.
Why is this important?
Because you can learn basic mindfulness concepts and techniques quickly, and once you do, you can apply them immediately and use them for the rest of your life.
For young adults – think Gen Z and Millennials – a durable, portable, evidence-based method for reducing risk of negative mental health symptoms may be exactly what they need. People with mild or moderate mental health issues can use mindfulness to manage symptoms and prevent escalation, while people with moderate or severe mental health issues can use mindfulness to augment or support an official clinical treatment plan.
To learn about a mindfulness approach tailored to adolescents and young adults, please read this article on our blog:
Can Ten Minutes of Mindfulness a Day Improve Mental Health?
To be clear, mindfulness is not a replacement for treatment: it’s a technique that can support patients while in a treatment program, and can help people who aren’t in treatment manage their mental health, or reduce their likelihood of developing a clinical mental health disorder.
