Study Links Night Owl Teens to Higher Impulsivity

A recent study suggests that adolescents who identify as “night owls” experience greater impulsivity compared to their morning-oriented peers. These teens, who tend to stay up late and wake later, reported higher levels of negative urgency and lower perseverance, indicating a tendency to act rashly during stressful situations and to abandon tasks that become challenging.

Interestingly, the study found no connection between biological circadian rhythms and impulsivity, hinting that psychological or behavioral factors might be more influential. This research included 210 teenagers and emphasizes the potential benefits of chronotherapeutic strategies to mitigate impulsivity-related risks during adolescence.

Key Insights

• Evening Preference & Impulsivity: Teens who favor late nights show increased impulsivity.
• No Biological Link: The onset of melatonin due to dim light did not correlate with impulsivity levels.
• Prevention Potential: Adjusting sleep patterns may help reduce risky behaviors in teens, such as substance abuse.

This study, which will be presented at the SLEEP 2025 annual meeting, highlights that those with evening preferences reported heightened impulsivity traits. The findings underline that night owl teens are more prone to impulsive actions, specifically under negative emotional states.

Lead researcher Riya Mirchandaney, a doctoral candidate at the University of Pittsburgh, mentioned, “It’s surprising that we found no significant link between dim light melatonin onset and impulsivity in our group.” This implies that unmeasured psychological or behavioral influences may affect both impulsivity and an individual’s self-reported circadian preferences.

According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, circadian rhythms are inherent biological cycles observed in all living organisms, aligning with the 24-hour light-dark cycle. An individual’s circadian timing can be objectively evaluated through biological samples.

In this study, participants averaged 17 years of age, with a majority being female. They reported on their impulsivity and circadian preferences, complemented by saliva samples to assess their circadian phase.

Throughout a week-long study, participants also wore a wrist actigraph to track sleep patterns and completed assessments of impulsivity at night.

Mirchandaney expressed that the study’s results could pave the way for future research aimed at reducing impulsivity’s negative impacts, well-known contributors to substance use during adolescence. “This period may be critical for implementing measures to improve sleep and circadian timing,” she noted.

Funding

This research received funding from grants provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, both part of the National Institutes of Health.

About this Research

Findings from this study will be shared at the SLEEP 2025 conference.