Hitting the hay pretty late? Chances are, you spend more time worrying throughout your day.
A study published in Cognitive Therapy and Research has found that later bedtime is strongly associated with more worrying thoughts. Researchers had one hundred students fill out a survey about their average bedtime, what they worried the most about, and how often they worried.
Average reported bedtime was 1AM, but some students went to sleep as early as 10PM, some as late as 5AM. The later the bedtime, the more a student was likely to have repeated negative thinking. Further, a shorter amount of time slept was associated with more worrying.
But which comes first—does worrying lead to a later bedtime, or does a later bedtime cause more worry? Or is it both? While the scientists are puzzling it out, perhaps try an earlier bedtime—for the sake of your health.
Photo courtesy of flickr.
