The Association Between Chronotype and Mental Health Problems in a University Population: a Systematic Review of the Literature

Mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety represent a growing health concern among post-secondary students. Mental health and sleep problems tend to co-occur and circadian preference may have implications for mental health outcomes. We conducted a systematic review of the literature to synthesize the existing evidence on the association between circadian typology and mental health symptomatology in students pursuing higher education. We systematically searched three databases from inception to November 2017 to identify potentially relevant articles. A total of 3097 articles were screened, 75 were critically appraised, and 3 had low or moderate risk of bias. Preliminary evidence suggests that sleep preference is associated with depressive and/or anxiety symptomatology in undergraduate university students. The role of sleep preference as a risk factor for depressive and/or anxiety symptomatology needs to be evaluated in cohort studies.