Social jetlag in health and behavioral research

What is it about?

Modern lifestyles are demanding gradually more adaptation of individuals. The 24:7 world demands a physiological effort that could result in the disruption of biological rhythms, or chronodisruption. The effects of circadian disruption are new in the course of human evolution, but its possible hazards are of interest to several areas of Medicine, such as Psychiatry, Endocrinology, Immunology, and Oncology. In this scenario, one emergent field of research relates to social jetlag (SJL). This phenomenon is described as a biological misalignment that arises from alternated sleep phase in work and free days. SJL represents the discrepancy between social schedules and the biological clock. The aim of this study was to identify current peer-reviewed evidence of the health and behavioral risks associated with SJL. For that, we conducted a systematic review of the literature.

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