Abstract
This study explores whether weekend catch-up sleep (WCS) influences the risk of major neurological and psychiatric disorders-including depression, anxiety, dementia, stroke, and Parkinson’s disease (PD)-in a cohort of 91,665 participants from the UK Biobank, tracked over an average of 7.98 years. Accelerometer-measured sleep data were used to categorize WCS duration into four groups: no WCS (≤0 h), short (>0 to <1 h), medium (≥1 to <2 h), and long (≥2 h). Using Cox proportional hazards models that controlled for various confounding factors, along with restricted cubic spline analyses to examine potential nonlinear relationships, the results indicated that both medium (HR 0.82, 95 % CI: 0.72-0.92) and short (HR 0.85, 95 % CI 0.77-0.95) WCS were associated with reduced depression risk, with medium WCS also linked to lower anxiety risk (HR 0.88, 95 % CI: 0.78-0.99). These associations exhibited clear nonlinear patterns (p for nonlinearity < 0.001). However, no significant relationship was found between WCS and dementia, stroke, or PD risk. Overall, these findings highlight medium-duration WCS as a potentially beneficial practice for improving mental health outcomes-specifically, by reducing depression and anxiety risks. Nevertheless, the impact on other neurological conditions remains uncertain. Future research should verify these associations across diverse populations and further explore underlying biological mechanisms.