Evening Chronotypes Face Higher Depression Risk

A NEW study has reinforced the link between evening chronotypes and increased depressive symptoms, highlighting sleep quality, mindfulness, and alcohol consumption as key mediators of this relationship in young adults. 

Researchers conducted a cross-sectional study among 546 undergraduate students (31.5% male, 68.5% female, mean age: 19.77 years) to examine the mechanisms underlying the association between diurnal preference and depression. Chronotype was assessed using the reduced Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (rMEQ), while depression symptoms were measured via the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Additional self-report questionnaires assessed mindfulness, rumination, sleep quality, and alcohol consumption. Non-parametric ANCOVA was used to compare evening, intermediate, and morning chronotypes, controlling for age and sex. Mediation analyses explored potential indirect effects on depression scores. 

Findings confirmed that evening chronotypes exhibited significantly higher depressive symptoms compared to intermediate types (p=0.002), though no significant difference was found between evening and morning types. Evening types also reported significantly poorer sleep quality (p<0.001) and higher alcohol consumption (p<0.001) than their morning and intermediate counterparts.  

Mindfulness was significantly associated with chronotype, with morning types scoring higher in ‘acting with awareness’ (p=0.002). However, rumination did not significantly differ across chronotype groups. Mediation analyses revealed that sleep quality (Effect: -0.07, 95% CI: -0.10– -0.04), alcohol consumption (Effect: 0.02, 95% CI: 0.01–0.04), and mindfulness facets (‘acting with awareness’ and ‘describing’) significantly mediated the link between chronotype and depressive symptoms, while rumination did not. 

These findings provide further evidence that eveningness is a vulnerability factor for depression in young adults, with poor sleep and alcohol use playing key roles in this association. Future interventions could benefit from targeting these mechanisms, potentially through mindfulness-based approaches and sleep-focused interventions.  

Reference 

Yatagan et al. Mindfulness mediates the association between chronotype and depressive symptoms in young adults. PLoS One. 2025;20(3):e0319915.