Staying up late when you have to wake up early isn't exactly the best idea if you want to be rested, but night owl tendencies can have detrimental effects beyond just fatigue.
A new study published in the Psychiatry Research journal explores the mental health drawbacks that night owls might face in their lives. The survey examined nearly 75,000 adults and their preferred sleep timing, known as a chronotype, along with their actual sleep behavior. Unsurprisingly, going to bed early had much more favorable mental health results when compared to staying up late.
"We found that alignment with your chronotype is not crucial here, and that really it's being up late that is not good for your mental health," study co-author Jamie Zeitzer said in a statement. "The big unknown is why."
In general, they found that both morning larks and night owls had higher rates of mental and behavioral disorders if they stayed up late. This flies in the face of widely held knowledge that it's less about when you go to sleep and more about sticking to your body's ideal circadian schedule.
In a survey of nearly 75,000 adults, researchers compared the participants' preferred sleep timing, known as chronotype, with their actual sleep behavior. They determined that regardless of one's preferred bedtime, everyone benefits from turning in early. Morning larks and night owls alike tended to have higher rates of mental and behavioral disorders like depression and anxiety if they stayed up late.
"There is a bunch of data out there indicating that living aligned to your chronotype is very important," study lead author Renske Lok said. "That was our expectation." The scientists were proven wrong when they found that it was better for night owls to defy their natural sleep tendencies and force themselves to go to bed earlier.
Overall, night owls who kept to their chronotype were 20 to 40 percent more likely to have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder compared with night owls who followed an early or intermediate sleep schedule. Evening people—neither morning larks nor night owls—did even better when following an earlier schedule. Meanwhile, early risers who followed a later schedule didn't fare well, though not terribly.
"The worst-case scenario is definitely the late-night people staying up late," Zeitzer said.
Regardless of how what your body may tell you, staying up late might not be the best for you. "To age healthily, individuals should start sleeping before 1 a.m., despite chronobiological preferences," the scientists wrote in the study.
Remember the research next time you're up late.
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