Does late sleep promote depression?

Abstract

Evaluation of: Levandovski R, Dantas G, Fernandes LC et al. Depression scores associate with chronotype and social jetlag in a rural population. Chronobiol. Int. doi:10.3109/07420528.2011.602445 (2011) (Epub ahead of print).

It has long been known that jetlag has detrimental – although usually transient – effects on cognitive functions and mood. A recent study by Levandovski et al. now shows that a more chronic version of temporal misalignment, so-called social jetlag, is associated with higher depression scores in rural populations. In a cross-sectional study on a well-defined cohort of ethnically homogenous Brazilian immigrants, the authors found that desynchrony between sleep–wake rhythms and internal circadian time was correlated with higher depression scores. These data suggest that sleep timing has a stronger impact on mood and well-being than previously thought and could be used as a predictor of depression risk.

Keywords::

• chronotype
• circadian clock
• depression
• sleep timing
• social jetlag

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The author has no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.