Evening Preference Is Related to the Incidence of Depressive States Independent of Sleep-Wake Conditions

Abstract

Although evening preference has recently been identified as a risk factor for depression, it has not been substantiated whether evening preference is a direct risk factor for depressive states, or if it is associated secondarily through other factors, such as delayed sleep timing and shortened sleep duration. The objective of this study is to investigate associations in Japanese adult subjects between evening preference and incidence of depressive states, adjusting for various sleep parameters related to depressive states. The Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) were administered to 1170 individuals (493 males/677 females; mean and range 38.5 and 20-59 yrs) to assess their diurnal preferences, sleeping states, and presence of depression symptoms. Subjects were classified into five chronotypes based on MEQ scores. Evening preference was associated with delayed sleep timing, shortened sleep duration, deteriorated subjective sleep quality, and worsened daytime sleepiness. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that the extreme evening type (odds ratio [OR] = 1.926, p = .018) was associated with increased incidence of depressive states and that the extreme morning type (OR = 0.342, p = .038) was associated with the decreased incidence of depressive states, independent of sleep parameters, such as nocturnal awakening (OR = 1.844, p < .001), subjective sleep quality (OR = 2.471, p < .001), and daytime sleepiness (OR = 1.895, p = .001). However, no significant associations were observed between the incidence of depressive states and sleep duration, sleep timing, and sleep debt (levels of insufficient sleep). Although the findings of this study do not demonstrate a causative relationship between evening preference and depression, they do suggest the presence of functional associations between mood adjustment and biological clock systems that regulate diurnal preference. They also suggest that evening preference might increase susceptibility to the induction of mood disorders.

Evening types are prone to depression

“…Our results offer the first evidence of more frequent prescriptions of antidepressant medication among evening types. These findings are in line with studies indicating that morning types appear to be protected from depression (Kitamura et al, 2010), at least if they are not sleep-deprived (Selvi et al, 2010). In a previous study, we found that evening types were also more prone to sleep problems than other chronotypes (Merikanto et al, 2012).…”

“…Several earlier studies with relatively small sample sizes have demonstrated that evening types have a greater likelihood for depressive symptoms or major depression compared with other chronotypes (Abe et al, 2011;Antunes et al, 2010;Drennan et al, 1991;Chelminski et al, 1999;GasparBaba et al, 2009;Hasler et al, 2010;Hidalgo et al, 2009;Kim et al, 2010;Kitamura et al, 2010;Levandovski et al, 2011;Meliska et al, 2011;Selvi et al, 2010). Gaspar-Baba and colleagues (2009) have reported that evening types had more severe depressive symptoms, and Selvi and colleagues (2011) found that evening types were also more prone to attempt violent suicides than other chronotypes.…”

Tipología circadiana y problemas de salud mental

“…A excepción de unos pocos trabajos (Putilov, 2008;Taylor, Clay, Bramoweth, Sethi y Roane, 2011), la mayoría de las investigaciones han hallado asociaciones entre la tipología circadiana y sintomatología depresiva (Abe et al, 2011;Antunes, da Jornada, Ramalho e Hidalgo, 2010;Hidalgo et al, 2009;Hsu, Gau, Shang, Chiu y Lee, 2012;Kitamura et al, 2010;Levandovski et al, 2011;Mecacci y Rocchetti, 1998;Natale et al, 2005;Ong, Huang, Kuo y Manber, 2007;Pabst, Negriff, Dorn, Susman y Huang, 2009;Randler, 2011;Takeuchi, Oishi y Harada, 2005; Tzischinski y Shochat, 2011), así como con depresión mayor (Gaspar-Barba et al, 2009;Meliska et al, 2011;Selvi et al, 2010.). En la Tabla 1 se presentan los principales resultados existentes en el tema.…”

Circadian Typology: A Comprehensive Review

“…Circadian misalignment and sleep disruptions in patients with mood disorders have been linked to abnormal daily patterns of gene expression, hormonal secretion, body temperature, and cognitive and behavioral functions (Wulff et al, 2010). An additional indication that circadian misalignment contributes to depressive symptoms is the finding that ET people are prone to depressive symptoms (Chelminski et al, 1999;Giannotti et al, 2002;Hidalgo et al, 2009, Kitamura et al, 2010). …”