How Circadian Rhythms Shape Emotional Reactivity and Regulation: A Narrative Review

Circadian rhythms exert a profound influence on human physiology and behaviour, providing temporal organisation to sleep-wake patterns, cognitive performance, and affective functioning. Increasing evidence indicates that misalignment between internal biological clocks and external environmental or social demands critically affects emotional health. This narrative review focuses on the role of circadian rhythms in shaping emotional reactivity and regulation, with particular attention to chronotype, social jet lag (SJL) and shift work. Evening chronotypes show greater vulnerability to negative affect, difficulties in emotion regulation and a higher incidence of psychiatric symptoms compared to morning types, who typically display greater emotional stability. SJL, prevalent during adolescence, has been associated with mood disturbances, anxiety and impaired regulatory capacities, with screen exposure and late-night activities acting as aggravating factors. Similarly, shift workers frequently experience circadian desynchronisation, which disrupts executive functions essential for adaptive emotion regulation and predisposes them to stress, irritability and long-term mental health problems. Although these findings underline the strong relationship between circadian misalignment and emotional dysfunction, inconsistencies in results highlight the need for methodological refinement. Future studies should combine subjective reports with physiological markers and adopt longitudinal designs to track long-term trajectories; controlled light exposure, structured sleep-wake routines and organisational policies for shift scheduling, may represent promising avenues to strengthen resilience. By elucidating the mechanisms through which circadian rhythms modulate emotions, research can contribute to improving prevention and treatment strategies for mood and anxiety disorders, ultimately enhancing psychological well-being.