Associations between light at night and mental health: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Mar 28, 2025The Science of the total environment

Links between nighttime light exposure and mental health

AI simplified

Circadian Biology on OpenScience ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Abstract

Nineteen studies involving a total population of 556,861 found that light at night (LAN) is associated with increased odds of depression.

LAN exposure was linked to a higher prevalence of depression, with an odds ratio of 1.18.
Stronger associations with depression were observed for bedside (OR: 1.45) and indoor wrist-measured LAN (OR: 1.30) compared to outdoor measurements (OR: 1.10).
Older adults exhibited a greater association with depression (OR: 1.56) than general adults (OR: 1.16) or youth (OR: 1.07).
An association was also found between LAN exposure and an increased prevalence of bipolar disorder (OR: 1.19) and anxiety (OR: 1.10).
LAN exposure was correlated with an increased incidence of anxiety (HR: 1.08) and schizophrenia (HR: 1.55), but the incidence of depression did not reach statistical significance (HR: 1.53).

AI simplified

Light at night (LAN) disrupts the circadian rhythm by altering the natural light-dark cycle. With increasing interest in the relationship between LAN and mental health, there is value in an updated systematic review and meta-analysis considering prominent mental health conditions that also critically appraises LAN exposure assessment. We conducted a systematic review of six databases, two registries, and Google Scholar to identify studies examining the associations between indoor and outdoor LAN exposure (high vs. low exposure) and mental health outcomes (depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and schizophrenia), completing inverse-variance random-effects meta-analyses. Nineteen studies with a total population of 556,861 were included in the review. LAN exposure was associated with increased odds of depression prevalence (odds ratio [OR]: 1.18; 95 % confidence interval [CI]: 1.09 to 1.28), with stronger associations for bedside (OR: 1.45; 95 % CI: 1.03 to 2.04) or wrist-measured indoor LAN (OR: 1.30; 95 % CI: 1.22 to 1.38) than satellite-measured outdoor LAN exposure (OR: 1.10; 95 % CI: 1.04 to 1.17) and in older adults (OR: 1.56; 95 % CI: 1.24 to 1.96) compared to general adults (OR: 1.16; 95 % CI: 1.06 to 1.28) or youth (OR: 1.07; 95 % CI: 0.99 to 1.16). LAN exposure was also associated with an increased prevalence of bipolar disorder (OR: 1.19; 95 % CI: 1.08 to 1.31) and anxiety (OR: 1.10; 95 % CI: 1.02 to 1.20) and increased incidence of anxiety (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.08; 95 % CI: 1.02 to 1.15) and schizophrenia (HR: 1.55; 95 % CI: 1.01 to 2.39); however, the incidence of depression did not achieve statistical significance (HR: 1.53; 95 % CI: 0.98 to 2.38). Overall, our results suggest that LAN exposure influences adverse mental health conditions, with differences in results appreciated for depression prevalence depending on how LAN exposure was measured. Additional research is needed on the effects of LAN given its undoubted interest in the prevention and treatment of mental disorders.

Full Text

Full text is available at the source.

View full text (XML) ↗View full text ↗

Associations between light at night and mental health: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Full Text

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

what lands in your inbox each week:

Recent issues from the circadian biology brief

Abstract

Full Text

Related papers

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

what lands in your inbox each week:

Recent issues from the circadian biology brief