Associations of loneliness and sleep chronotype with depressive symptoms: a structural equation modeling approach

This study explores the relationship between loneliness, sleep chronotype (SC), and depressive symptoms (DS) in Chinese college students, with a focus on SC's mediating role. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 1,079 college students, using validated instruments to assess loneliness, SC, and DS. Pearson correlation analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between loneliness and DS (r = 0.549, p < 0.01) and a negative correlation between SC and both loneliness (r = -0.177, p < 0.01) and DS (r = -0.206, p < 0.01). Structural equation modeling (SEM) indicated that SC partially mediated the relationship between loneliness and DS, with a significant indirect effect (β = 0.016, 95% CI: 0.003-0.035, p = 0.013). The findings suggest that college students with higher loneliness are more likely to have an evening-type sleep pattern, which exacerbates depressive symptoms. This study emphasizes the role of sleep-wake preference as a potential target for interventions to alleviate the effects of loneliness on adolescent depression, contributing to mental health prevention and treatment strategies.