HormonesMelatonin

Evening chronotype is associated with greater social jetlag and higher obsessive-compulsive symptom scores in healthy adults.

In a cross-sectional study of 95 healthy adults, evening chronotypes had significantly longer social jetlag than morning or intermediate types (F=16.70, p<.001). Evening chronotype was also linked to higher obsessive-compulsive symptom scores (p=.027), though overall psychiatric distress did not differ across chronotypes.

Last updated: Jul 17, 2026โ€ข0 RCTsโ€ข๐Ÿ“– Read as article โ†’

Evidence Score

Evidence Score34/100
Human RCTโ˜†โ˜†โ˜†โ˜†โ˜†
Meta-analysisโ˜†โ˜†โ˜†โ˜†โ˜†
Mechanismโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…
Safetyโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†
Confidencelow

Study Evidence

Study 1. Biological and social rhythm differences, daily melatonin secretion and psychiatric symptoms in healthy adults.

observational

E&#x11f;ilmez &#xdc;, Ekici F, Kande&#x11f;er A, Selvi Y ยท International journal of psychiatry in clinical practice (2026)

Participants: N/A
Duration: one week (sleep diary and urine collection)
Intervention: Chronotype classification (morning, intermediate, evening) based on Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) scores.
Outcome: Social jetlag (workday-free-day difference in midsleep), psychiatric symptoms (SCL-90-R subscales), and overnight urinary 6-sulfatoxymelatonin (6-SMT) indexed to creatinine.
Effect Size: F=16.70 for chronotype differences in social jetlag; r=-0.54 to -0.66 for MEQ-SJL correlations; B=-2.82, ฮฒ=-0.54 for MEQ predicting SJL.
Population: 95 relatively young, university-affiliated students and staff (healthy adults).

Result:

PubMed: 42372286DOI: 10.1080/13651501.2026.2695468

Mechanism Graph

Evening chronotype predisposes to misalignment between biological and social schedules
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This misalignment (social jetlag) may contribute to circadian disruption
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Circadian disruption may increase vulnerability to specific psychiatric symptoms (e.g., obsessive-compulsive)
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Observed link between eveningness and obsessive-compulsive symptoms

Limitations

  • โš Cross-sectional design prevents causal inference
  • โš Melatonin sampling was limited to overnight workday urine, not controlled for light exposure or sleep timing

Frequently Asked Questions

What is social jetlag?โ–ผ

Social jetlag is the difference in midsleep timing between workdays and free days, reflecting misalignment between biological and social rhythms.

Did evening chronotypes have higher overall psychiatric distress?โ–ผ

No, total SCL-90-R scores did not differ across chronotypes (p=.367), but obsessive-compulsive symptoms were specifically higher in the evening group.

Was melatonin secretion different between chronotypes?โ–ผ

No, overnight urinary 6-sulfatoxymelatonin (6-SMT) did not differ by chronotype (p=.442) and was not associated with social jetlag.

What was the relationship between BMI and melatonin?โ–ผ

BMI correlated inversely with 6-SMT (r=-0.21, p=.043), suggesting a potential metabolic link.

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References

  1. 1.E&#x11f;ilmez &#xdc;, Ekici F, Kande&#x11f;er A, Selvi Y. "Biological and social rhythm differences, daily melatonin secretion and psychiatric symptoms in healthy adults.." International journal of psychiatry in clinical practice, 2026. PMID: 42372286 DOI: 10.1080/13651501.2026.2695468
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