Women who wake up early less likely to get depressed, say scientists

A new study now claims that women who wake up early as they get older are less likely to develop depression than those who love to sleep till late.

According to scientists, exposure to daylight affects a person’s risk of becoming depressed, and women who wake up early have a 12 to 27 per cent lower chance.

The research also found night owls are less likely to be married and more likely to live alone, be smokers, and have erratic sleep patterns – all of which could increase depression risk.

But the link between sleeping preference and depression still remains even when those factors are accounted for.

The study was conducted by scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder, and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

It is the largest ever study of its kind and studied the effect of a woman's chronotype – what times a person prefers to sleep and wake up – on her risk of depression and claim chronotype affects depression risk even when exposure to daylight and working schedules are taken out of the equation.

The findings were published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research.