Morning Types vs. Evening Types: Who Is More Likely to Be Sleep-Deprived?
A new study has found that evening types are more likely than morning types to get insufficient sleep and engage in lower levels of physical activity. They were also more likely to experience depression and anxiety and to engage in hazardous levels of alcohol consumption.
Researchers at the University of Eastern Finland analyzed how circadian preferences affect health among 2,266 Finnish working adults who participated in a population-based study. The participants, whose average age was 44.3, were categorized according to the results of the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) into four groups: definite morning types, moderate morning types, moderate evening types, and definite evening types. The researchers then assessed their mental health, including symptoms of anxiety and depression, as well as alcohol consumption and physical activity levels.
The study found that evening types were significantly more likely than morning types to experience sleep deprivation. Among definite morning types, only 19% reported that they rarely or never got enough sleep. By comparison, the figure rose to 38.6% among definite evening types.
A similar pattern was observed in physical activity. While 46.7% of morning types fell below the recommended level of physical activity, the proportion rose to 58% among evening types—a difference of more than 10 percentage points.
Evening types were also up to two to four times more likely than morning types to experience mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. Hazardous alcohol consumption was also more common among definite evening types, at 32.3%, compared with 27.3% among definite morning types.
The study further found that definite evening types experienced work-related stress more frequently than definite morning types and had greater difficulty recovering after work. Researchers suggested that these factors may also contribute to poorer mental health among evening types.
Dr. Ilona Merikanto, who led the study, said, “These findings show that evening types may face not only greater challenges in maintaining a healthy work-life balance, but also poorer mental health.”
The findings were recently published in the international journal Sleep Health.
Source : 헬스조선 (https://health.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2026/09/02/2026090203198.html)