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In a nutshell
- Night owls have higher depression risk, but it’s linked to lower mindfulness abilities and poor sleep quality, not just their sleep schedule itself
- Two mindfulness skills—being present in the moment and describing emotions effectively—help explain why evening types experience more depression
- Improving mindfulness skills and sleep quality may protect against depression for night owls, without requiring them to change their natural sleep preferences
SURREY, England — Are you a night owl — but you struggle with mood issues? There might be a scientific reason behind it. New research suggests your late-night tendencies could be linked to depression risk—but not for the reasons you might think.
Scientists at the University of Surrey recently uncovered fascinating connections between sleep preferences, mindfulness skills, and depression symptoms in a study published in PLOS ONE. Their findings shed some new light on the millions who naturally function better in the evening hours.
The research team discovered that people who prefer staying up late tend to score lower on specific mindfulness abilities, particularly being fully present in the moment and describing their emotions effectively. These differences, along with poorer sleep quality, help explain why night owls often experience more depression symptoms than early birds.
The Chronotype-Depression Link
We’ve long known that early birds and night owls differ in more than just when they sleep. Your “chronotype”—whether you naturally function better in the morning or evening—affects everything from cognitive performance to emotional processing. This built-in tendency has genetic roots but shifts throughout life, with most people reaching peak “eveningness” during their late teens and early twenties.
This timing creates a perfect storm: young adulthood is when evening preference peaks and also when depression risk rises dramatically. Nearly half the university students in the study classified as evening types, putting them at higher risk during an already vulnerable life stage.
The study included 546 university students with an average age of 19.8 years. Each participant completed questionnaires measuring their chronotype, depression symptoms, five different aspects of mindfulness, rumination tendencies, sleep quality, and alcohol consumption.
When analyzing the results, the researchers found clear patterns. Evening types reported worse sleep quality than both morning and intermediate types. They also consumed more alcohol and scored lower on the “acting with awareness” aspect of mindfulness, which involves staying present rather than operating on autopilot.
Mindfulness: The Missing Piece
The most revealing findings came from the analysis that identified four factors explaining the link between eveningness and depression: sleep quality, “acting with awareness,” “describing” emotions, and alcohol consumption. Sleep quality emerged as the strongest factor, followed by mindfulness skills.
What does “acting with awareness” actually mean in daily life? It’s about being fully focused on what you’re doing in the moment, rather than mentally rehearsing tomorrow’s meeting or rehashing an argument from earlier. This mindful presence helps reduce the cycle of negative thoughts that feeds depression.
The “describing” aspect of mindfulness involves labeling emotions effectively. Research shows that putting feelings into words actually reduces their intensity. When you can say “I’m feeling anxious about this deadline” rather than just experiencing a knot in your stomach, you gain some distance from the emotion itself.
Night owls scored lower on both these mindfulness skills. The researchers propose that evening types often experience poorer sleep quality due to “social jetlag”—the mismatch between their natural rhythm and society’s morning-oriented schedule. This ongoing sleep debt causes daytime fatigue and reduces mental bandwidth for staying present and self-aware.
How Night Owls Can Thrive
One surprising finding was the role of alcohol. While evening types did drink more, higher alcohol consumption was actually linked to fewer depression symptoms in this sample. This contradicts previous research but might make sense in a university context, where moderate drinking often serves as a social connector. Only 8.3% of evening types reported heavy drinking (more than 15 units weekly), suggesting most were using alcohol socially rather than problematically.
For the millions who naturally function better at night, these findings offer hope. Rather than fighting your biological rhythm, focusing on sleep quality and mindfulness skills might better protect your mental health.
The study’s implications extend beyond individuals. Schools and workplaces typically favor morning schedules, creating disadvantages for evening types. As we better understand these connections, institutions might consider more flexible scheduling or targeted interventions for those with evening preferences.
The good news? Mindfulness can be learned and improved. Previous research shows mindfulness training effectively reduces depression symptoms in student populations. This study points to exercises specifically targeting awareness and emotional labeling as particularly beneficial for night owls.
Sleep quality improvements also offer protective effects. While evening types may always prefer later hours, sleep hygiene practices can help maximize the quality of sleep they do get, potentially reducing depression risk.
The path to better mental health for night owls might not involve becoming morning people, but rather developing specific skills that protect against depression—meeting your biology where it is, rather than where society often expects it to be.
Paper Summary
Methodology
Researchers recruited 546 university students, predominantly female (68.5%), with an average age of 19.8 years. Each participant completed several validated questionnaires. The Reduced Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (rMEQ) assessed whether they were naturally morning, intermediate, or evening types based on questions about preferred sleep-wake times and energy peaks. Depression symptoms were measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. The Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire Short Form evaluated different aspects of mindfulness: observing experiences, describing emotions, acting with awareness, non-judging inner experiences, and non-reactivity to inner experiences. Sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, which looks at factors like sleep duration, disturbances, and daytime functioning. Participants also reported alcohol consumption in units per week and completed the Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire to measure repetitive negative thinking. Researchers then used statistical methods to examine group differences and conducted mediation analysis to determine which factors explained the relationship between chronotype and depression symptoms.
Results
The study revealed clear patterns among the 546 participants. Nearly half classified as evening types, with most others falling into the intermediate category and only 38 participants qualifying as morning types. Evening types showed significantly higher depression scores than intermediate types and reported worse sleep quality than both other groups. They also drank more alcohol than morning and intermediate types. When looking at mindfulness skills, morning types scored significantly higher on “acting with awareness” than evening types. The mediation analysis showed that the relationship between chronotype and depression was fully explained by four factors: sleep quality (the strongest mediator), the mindfulness skills of “acting with awareness” and “describing,” and alcohol consumption. Surprisingly, while evening types drank more, higher alcohol consumption was associated with fewer depression symptoms in this population—possibly because moderate drinking in college settings often enhances social connections, which protect against depression. The statistical analysis confirmed these weren’t random associations but substantial relationships that fully accounted for why evening types experience more depression symptoms.
Limitations
The researchers acknowledged several key limitations. First, the cross-sectional design means they can’t establish causal relationships—while they assumed chronotype affects the mediators which then influence depression, there could be bidirectional effects. Second, they relied entirely on self-reported measures, which can be affected by recall bias and social desirability. Objective measurements of sleep patterns and chronotype (like wrist actigraphy) would strengthen future research. Third, the sample was predominantly female (68.5%), which limits generalizability since chronotype shows sex differences, with females typically more morning-oriented than males in youth. The sample also consisted entirely of university students who volunteered to participate, who might not represent the general population. Despite controlling for sex in their analyses, the researchers noted that future studies should recruit more males and specifically test for sex differences, since some evidence suggests depression risk may have stronger links with evening chronotype in women than men. The small number of morning types in the sample (only 38 participants) also limited statistical power for some comparisons.
Discussion & Takeaways
This study offers important insights for understanding and addressing depression risk. The full mediation effect found means that sleep quality, specific mindfulness skills, and alcohol consumption collectively explain why evening types experience more depression. For evening types, improving “acting with awareness” could be especially beneficial. This mindfulness aspect helps people focus on the present moment instead of dwelling on negative past experiences or worrying about the future. The “describing” skill—being able to label emotions accurately—may help regulate emotional reactions, another protective factor against depression. Sleep quality emerged as the strongest mediator, highlighting the importance of addressing the mismatch between biological rhythms and social demands for evening types. The researchers suggest their findings could inform more effective mental health interventions for young adults, especially those with evening preferences. Rather than trying to change someone’s chronotype (which has strong biological underpinnings), focusing on improving sleep quality and specific mindfulness skills might better protect against depression.
Funding Information
The authors explicitly stated they received no specific funding for this research project. The absence of external funding sources helps ensure the study was conducted without potential biases that might come from financial interests, though it may have limited the resources available for collecting more comprehensive data or using objective measurement tools.
Publication Details
The study “Mindfulness mediates the association between chronotype and depressive symptoms in young adults” was authored by Gulin Yatagan Sevim, Tina Yuet Law, and Simon L. Evans from the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, School of Psychology, University of Surrey in the United Kingdom. It was published in PLOS ONE on March 19, 2025, and is available as an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution License, making it freely available for reading and sharing. The research can be accessed through the digital object identifier (DOI): https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0319915.
