Melatonin Circadian Phase Timing and Stability: Associations With Mood Symptoms Among a Clinically‐Enriched Sample of Young Adults With Mood Disorders

Dec 8, 2025Journal of pineal research

The Link Between Melatonin Timing and Mood in Young Adults

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Abstract

This study looked at how melatonin, a hormone that helps regulate sleep, relates to mood in young adults with mood disorders. Researchers measured melatonin levels in 124 participants over 20 days and found that those with mood disorders tended to have earlier melatonin release compared to those without. They also discovered that symptoms of hypomania (a high-energy mood) were linked to later melatonin release, while depressive symptoms were not. This suggests that understanding melatonin timing could help in managing mood disorders in the future.

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Circadian rhythms regulate many aspects of human health, and disruptions in these rhythms have been implicated in mood disorders. Dim light melatonin onset (DLMO) provides a gold standard measure of circadian timing, yet few studies have examined its stability or relation to mood symptoms in psychiatric populations. This study examined DLMO across three time points over 20 days in a clinically-enriched sample of 124 young adults with and without mood disorders. Participants also reported mood symptom levels three times daily via ecological momentary assessments (EMA). Circadian timing and stability were quantified and their associations with mood symptoms and diurnal mood patterns were assessed. Overall, DLMO demonstrated substantial stability, and did not differ by diagnostic group. The mood disorder group had earlier circadian timing than healthy controls. Hypomanic, but not depressive, symptoms were consistently associated with later DLMO in both cross-sectional and prospective analyses. Moreover, hypomanic symptoms exhibited a diurnal pattern that differed for participants with earlier and later circadian timing. Future work should examine endogenous circadian rhythms in relation to mood disorder subtypes and mood episodes to determine whether circadian timing changes can be used to predict or intervene on psychiatric symptoms.

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Melatonin Circadian Phase Timing and Stability: Associations With Mood Symptoms Among a Clinically‐Enriched Sample of Young Adults With Mood Disorders

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