A new study from Brunel University of London has revealed that good quality sleep can mitigate the risk of poor mental health – regardless of whether you’re an early riser or a night owl.

The research focused on how sleep time preferences – or ‘chronotypes’ – impact the mental health of young adults living in the UK and Germany.

Chronotype is a person’s natural sleep pattern – specifically, in relation to what time they prefer to go to sleep, wake up, and are most alert.

“Morning chronotype people tend to report peak physical and mental performance in the early part of the day after waking up, and evening chronotype people might have the best mental and physical performance before sleeping,” says Prof Veena Kumari, a psychology professor from Brunel University of London’s Centre for Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, who led the study.

“Most people are in the intermediate range and have an intermediate chronotype – falling somewhere between a morning person (lark) and an evening person (night owl).”

There’s evidence to suggest that night owls are at a high risk of developing mental illness, compared to intermediate and morning chronotypes. To investigate this, the study set out to explore if this increased risk factor was linked to poor quality sleep.

The study, which surveyed 460 healthy adults aged 18-40 living in the UK and Germany, found that poor-quality sleep had significantly positive associations with adverse mental health outcomes in all participants, regardless of their chronotype. So essentially, it may not be the time of day you of to sleep that matters, it’s how nourishing that sleep is for your body and mind.

How to get good quality sleep

  1. Reduce caffeine throughout the day, not just before bed. Coffee can help you stay alert up to four to six hours after drinking it, so bear that in mind when you make your afternoon cuppa, especially if you get sleep anxiety.
  2. Try a screen-free bedtime routine. Using your phone before bed can reduce the amount of REM sleep – an important stage of sleep that helps with memory and mood regulation.
  3. Try a magnesium supplement. Research has shown that magnesium can help the body relax and improve insomnia. It can also ease muscle cramps which tend to keep people awake.
  4. Choose foods carefully. Eating right before bed can increase the risk of acid reflux, high sugar foods can disrupt sleep, whereas milk has been shown to aid sleep because it's a source of tryptophan which supports the production of sleepy hormone melatonin.
  5. Try beditation – a calming end to the day to soothe racing thoughts and relax the body.