Volume 30, Issue 169, March 2026

The role of sleep chronotype in mental and metabolic health - a review of current evidence

Zuzanna Czuba^1♦, Mateusz Mazurek¹, Filip Gałązka², Julia Gałązka³, Agata Olecka⁴, Maciej Świerczyna⁵, Fryderyka Orawczak⁶, Jakub Majcherek⁷, Mikołaj Kotusiewicz⁸, Tomasz Karwowski⁹

¹Medical University of Warsaw, Żwirki i Wigury 61, 02-091 Warsaw, Poland
²Copernicus PL Sp. z o.o., St. Adalbert Hospital, aleja Jana Pawła II 50, 80-462 Gdańsk, Poland
³Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, Wóycickiego 1/3, 01-938 Warsaw, Poland
⁴7th Military Naval Hospital, Polanki 117, 80-305 Gdańsk, Poland
⁵Ministry of the Interior and Administration Hospital, Północna 42, 91-425 Łódź, Poland
⁶Medical University of Lodz, Al. Kosciuszki 4, 90-419, Lodz, Poland
⁷Voivodeship Hospital in Tarnów, Lwowska 178A, 33-100, Tarnów, Poland
⁸Jagiellonian University: Krakow, Lesser Poland
⁹Voivodeship Hospital in Płock, Medyczna 19, 09-400 Płock, Poland

^♦Corresponding author
Zuzanna Czuba, Medical University of Warsaw, Żwirki i Wigury 61, 02-091 Warsaw, Poland

ABSTRACT

Chronotype is an individual's preferred time of day for being active and asleep. Chronotype refers to how well one's behaviour aligns with their internal bodily rhythms. Studies suggest that poor alignment of one's internal bodily clocks with one's daily patterns is significantly linked to negative mental and metabolic problems. Persons who are classified as evening-types are at a higher risk of developing depression, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorders, suicidal ideation, and difficulties in emotion regulation. They are distinguished from the morning types, who are known to be in good mental health and to have good circadian rhythms, with minimal occurrence of mood disorders. All these factors suggest that eveningtypes may be at a disadvantage regarding their mental health compared to morning-types. This review summarizes the current evidence linking chronotype with mental health and metabolic regulation, focusing on primary psychiatric conditions and metabolic problems, including insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, and hypertension. The association of eveningness with poor health has been linked to social jet lag, disruption of the wake–sleep cycle, and hypothalamic–pituitary– adrenal axis dysfunction. Desynchrony between internal biological timing and social timing disrupts glucose and lipid metabolism. Therefore, people with eveningness are more likely to develop obesity, hypertension, and metabolic syndrome. Metabolic changes may be related to mood disorders and stress, suggesting the presence of common underlying biological factors in the development of both types of disorders. Recognizing chronotype could help develop improved risk profiles and provide personalized prevention and clinical management for psychological and metabolic health.

Keywords: sleep chronotype; mental health; metabolic health; circadian rhythm; eveningness.

Medical Science, 2026, 30, e52ms3755

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi.v30i169.e52ms3755

Published: 12 March 2026