Associations of sunlight affinity with depression and sleep disorders in American males: Evidence from NHANES 2009-2020.
Plain-language summary
This study set out to see whether men who like and seek out sunlight have less depression and better sleep. It used 7,306 American men from NHANES (a large, recurring US government health survey) between 2009 and 2020, comparing how much they said they liked being in the sun, and how much time they spent in it, against depression scores and reported sleep problems. Men with a stronger liking for sunlight had lower odds of depression but slightly higher odds of short sleep. More time in the sun went the same way, lower odds of depression and of trouble sleeping, and slightly higher odds of sleeping short. Both the least and the most sun-seeking men slept short more often, so the relationship with sleep is not a straight line. This is a snapshot in time and cannot say which came first.
Key findings
- A stronger liking for sunlight was linked to 12 to 20% lower odds of depression, and to 11% higher odds of sleeping short.
- More time spent in sunlight went with 10% lower odds of depression and 6% lower odds of trouble sleeping, and with 5% higher odds of sleeping short.
- The men with the highest sun exposure had 30% lower odds of mild depression.
- Sunlight preference showed a U-shaped link to short sleep, with both the least and the most sun-seeking men sleeping short more often.
How to analyze the study yourself
- Study type
- Cross-sectional studies capture data at one point in time, useful for spotting associations but unable to prove what caused what.
- Population
- American men in the NHANES survey, a broad but US-only sample.
- Funding
- Not reported
- Takeaway
- This study found that men who liked the sun and spent more time in it had less depression and less trouble sleeping. They were a little more likely to report short sleep, but that does not mean their sleep was worse, and avoiding the sun is not the lesson. Get daylight during the day.