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Journal Article Ppublish 2 citations

PubMed: 42425244 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2026.122229

Meal Timing Jetlag is associated with anxiety, depressive and insomnia symptoms in a French-speaking online cohort: A cross-sectional analysis of ALIMENTAL 2.

J Affect Disord 413:122229

Authors: Guillaume Fond, Julien Coelho, Brendon Stubbs, Dong Keon Yon, Yannis Achour, Tasnime Akbaraly, Bruno Aouizerate, Lou Boulot, Francesco P Cappuccio, Lucile Capuron, Sylvain Iceta, Guillaume Lucas, Roberto Manfredini, Wolfgang Marx, Jean-Arthur Micoulaud-Franchi, Filippo Pigazzani, Masoud Rahmati, Bach Xuan Tran, Laurent Boyer, Jacques Taillard, Michael Berk

Affiliations

  • Aix-Marseille Université, CEReSS, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Marseille (APHM), Health Service Research and Quality of Life Center, 27 boulevard Jean Moulin, 13005, Marseille, France; Dr Guillaume Fond SARL, Marseille, France.
  • Univ. Bordeaux, SANPSY, CNRS, UMR 6033, CHU de Bordeaux, Place Amélie Raba Léon, F-33000, Bordeaux, France; Service Universitaire de Médecine du Sommeil, CHU de Bordeaux, Place Amélie Raba Léon, F-33000, Bordeaux, France.
  • Clinical Division of Social Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Comprehensive Center for Clinical Neurosciences and Mental Health (C3NMH), Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London, London, United Kingdom; Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, Charité Campus Mitte, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Division of Psychology and Mental Health, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom.
  • Center for Digital Health, Medical Science Research Institute, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea; Department of Pediatrics, Kyung Hee University Medical Center, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
  • Aix-Marseille Université, CEReSS, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Marseille (APHM), Health Service Research and Quality of Life Center, 27 boulevard Jean Moulin, 13005, Marseille, France; Département Universitaire de Médecine Générale, Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille, France.
  • Desbrest Institute of Epidemiology and Public Health (IDESP), Univ Montpellier, INSERM, F-34090 Montpellier, France.
  • Centre de Référence Régional des Pathologies Anxieuses et de la Dépression, Pôle de Psychiatrie Générale et Universitaire, Centre Hospitalier Charles Perrens, Bordeaux, France; Univ. Bordeaux, INRAE, Bordeaux INP, NutriNeuro, UMR 1286, Bordeaux, France; Fondation FondaMental, F-94010, Créteil, France.
  • Aix-Marseille Université, CEReSS, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Marseille (APHM), Health Service Research and Quality of Life Center, 27 boulevard Jean Moulin, 13005, Marseille, France.
  • Warwick Applied Health, Warwick Medical School, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK; University Hospital Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Trust, Clifford Bridge Road, Coventry, CV2 2DX, UK.
  • Univ. Bordeaux, INRAE, Bordeaux INP, NutriNeuro, UMR 1286, Bordeaux, France.
  • Research Center of the Quebec Heart and Lung Institute, Quebec, QC, Canada; Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, Laval University, Quebec, QC, Canada.
  • Aix-Marseille Université, CEReSS, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Marseille (APHM), Health Service Research and Quality of Life Center, 27 boulevard Jean Moulin, 13005, Marseille, France.
  • Clinica Medica Unit, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy.
  • Deakin University, Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation (IMPACT), School of Medicine, Barwon Health, Geelong, VIC, Australia.
  • Univ. Bordeaux, SANPSY, CNRS, UMR 6033, CHU de Bordeaux, Place Amélie Raba Léon, F-33000, Bordeaux, France; Service Universitaire de Médecine du Sommeil, CHU de Bordeaux, Place Amélie Raba Léon, F-33000, Bordeaux, France.
  • Division of Cardiovascular Research, School of Medicine, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK.
  • Aix-Marseille Université, CEReSS, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Marseille (APHM), Health Service Research and Quality of Life Center, 27 boulevard Jean Moulin, 13005, Marseille, France; Fondation FondaMental, F-94010, Créteil, France.
  • Faculty of Public Health, VNU University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Viet Nam.
  • Aix-Marseille Université, CEReSS, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Marseille (APHM), Health Service Research and Quality of Life Center, 27 boulevard Jean Moulin, 13005, Marseille, France.
  • Univ. Bordeaux, SANPSY, CNRS, UMR 6033, CHU de Bordeaux, Place Amélie Raba Léon, F-33000, Bordeaux, France.
  • Deakin University, Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation (IMPACT), School of Medicine, Barwon Health, Geelong, VIC, Australia; Orygen, National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Florey Institute for Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, VIC, Australia.

Abstract

BACKGROUND

Chrono-nutrition - when, not only what, one eats relative to circadian timing - is an emerging determinant of mental health. We tested whether Meal Timing Jetlag (MTJL), the workday-to-free-day discordance in eating schedules, is associated with anxiety (primary outcome) and with depressive and insomnia symptoms (secondary), independently of sleep-based circadian misalignment.

METHODS

Cross-sectional analysis of the ALIMENTAL 2 French-speaking online cohort (n = 2945). Sleep timing was assessed with the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire and meal timing with a Food Timing Screener. Outcomes were the GAD-7 (anxiety), CES-D (depression) and ISI (insomnia). Multivariable models adjusted for age, sex, BMI, unemployment, financial difficulty and shift work, with dose-response, logistic and BMI-stratified sensitivity analyses.

RESULTS

In the primary model (n = 2817), MTJL was independently associated with anxiety (β = +0.47/h, 95% CI [0.14, 0.79], p = 0.005). The relationship was J-shaped (non-linearity p = 0.020; slope above 1 h + 1.03/h, p < 0.001). MTJL was also associated with depressive symptoms (β = +1.81, 95% CI [1.00, 2.61], p < 0.001) and insomnia severity (β = +0.90, 95% CI [0.47, 1.33], p < 0.001). Sleep-based circadian phase and sleep social jetlag were not. The per-hour anxiety effect is modest (≈12% of the GAD-7 minimal clinically important difference).

LIMITATIONS

The cross-sectional design cannot establish causality; reverse causation cannot be excluded. The cohort was online and 80% female, limiting generalisability.

CONCLUSIONS

Meal-timing regularity may be a candidate behavioural correlate of anxiety, depression and insomnia, warranting longitudinal and interventional confirmation before any clinical recommendation.

MeSH

Depression, Cross-Sectional Studies, Sleep, Signs And Symptoms, Work, Meals, Sleep Initiation And Maintenance Disorders