Summary: New research shows that keeping a consistent daily routine can lower physical pain and ease depressive symptoms, offering a straightforward approach to improve quality of life—especially for older adults who experience insomnia.
Researchers examined survey data from older adults with and without insomnia to determine how regular behavioral and social rhythms affect health. The results indicate that maintaining steady schedules for waking, meals, work or activities, social interactions, and sleep supports alignment of the body’s circadian clock. That alignment appears to stabilize health outcomes independently of an individual’s sleep quality.
Key Facts
- Geriatric Insomnia Is Common: Around half of people aged 60 and older report insomnia symptoms, according to the National Council on Aging.
- Pain and Depression Co-occur: Study participants who met criteria for insomnia reported higher baseline levels of physical pain and depressive symptoms compared with those who slept well.
- Routine Offers an Independent Benefit: Participants who kept consistent daily schedules experienced less physical pain and fewer depressive symptoms regardless of whether they were good or poor sleepers.
- Circadian Synchronization: Regular timing of daily activities provides reliable external cues (zeitgebers) that help align the internal 24-hour circadian clock and reduce biological disruptions tied to irregular schedules.
- Reducing Social Jet Lag: Keeping similar wake, meal, and sleep times across weekdays and weekends helps prevent social jet lag and preserves circadian stability throughout life.
Source: University of Missouri
University of Missouri investigators report a simple, practical strategy for enhancing well-being. Their study found that steady daily routines reduce physical pain and symptoms of depression, highlighting how ordinary habits can produce meaningful health benefits, particularly for older adults with insomnia.
Insomnia affects a large portion of older adults—nearly 50% of people aged 60 and above report trouble sleeping. To better understand how insomnia interacts with daily patterns and overall health, Eunjin Tracy, an assistant professor in the College of Education and Human Development, analyzed survey responses from 67 older adults, 37 of whom had insomnia.
As anticipated, older adults with insomnia reported greater levels of pain and depression. Tracy’s analysis also showed that participants who reported stable daily schedules tended to have less pain and fewer depressive symptoms. She suggests that the protective effect of routine stems in part from its ability to synchronize the body’s internal clock.
“Whether or not someone sleeps well, people with a regular daily routine reported lower physical pain and fewer signs of depression,” Tracy explained. “Consistent timing for waking, meals, work or study, socializing and bedtime provides the timing cues our internal clocks rely on. Over time, that alignment appears linked to better health.”
These everyday habits support the circadian rhythm—the internal 24-hour system that governs sleep, mood, metabolism and other physiological functions.
“When the circadian system is well regulated, biological processes run more smoothly. But when those timing cues are erratic, bodily systems are more likely to become dysregulated,” Tracy added.
Even minor shifts in daily timing—such as sleeping later on weekends—can disrupt the internal clock. This mismatch between social schedules and biological timing is sometimes called social jet lag. Maintaining consistent daily routines across the entire week helps reduce those disruptions.
“I wake and sleep at roughly the same times every day, and I believe a stable routine benefits people of every age,” Tracy said. “There’s growing recognition of social jet lag and the harm it can cause. Because we spend about one-third of our lives asleep, it makes sense to examine health across a full 24-hour cycle, not only during waking hours.”
The study, titled “Behavioral-social rhythms and insomnia symptoms: associations with pain, body mass index, and depressive symptoms among older adults,” was published in the Journal of Behavioral Medicine.
Key Questions Answered:
A: Daily activities such as waking, eating, working and socializing act as external time cues (zeitgebers) that align the body’s internal 24-hour circadian clock. A well-regulated circadian system optimizes biological and neuroendocrine processes, which can lower pain sensitivity and help stabilize mood.
A: No. The study found that consistent daily schedules were associated with lower pain and fewer depressive symptoms independent of participants’ sleep quality. In other words, regular habits offer protective effects even when sleep is imperfect.
A: Social jet lag refers to the mismatch between an individual’s biological clock and social obligations—commonly seen when people shift sleep and wake times on weekends. Keeping similar schedules every day minimizes these mismatches and preserves circadian alignment.
Editorial Notes:
- This article was edited by a Neuroscience News editor.
- The journal paper was reviewed in full by editorial staff.
- Additional context and clarification were provided by the editorial team.
About this pain and depression research news
Author: Brian Consiglio
Source: University of Missouri-Columbia
Contact: Brian Consiglio – University of Missouri-Columbia
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access. “Behavioral-social rhythms and insomnia symptoms: associations with pain, body mass index, and depressive symptoms among older adults” by Eunjin Lee Tracy et al., Journal of Behavioral Medicine. DOI: 10.1007/s10865-026-00646-6
Abstract
Behavioral-social rhythms and insomnia symptoms: associations with pain, body mass index, and depressive symptoms among older adults
Regular timing of daily activities—sleeping, eating and engaging with others—may help synchronize internal circadian rhythms with the 24-hour light–dark cycle, which can positively affect health in older adults. Insomnia is common in this age group and is linked to negative outcomes such as increased pain, higher body mass index (BMI), and elevated depressive symptoms.
Despite these connections, relatively little research has focused on how behavioral-social rhythms themselves influence health, or how these rhythms interact with insomnia to affect outcomes in older adults.
This study investigated three questions: (1) Do behavioral-social rhythms, pain, BMI, and depressive symptoms differ between older adults with and without insomnia? (2) Are regular behavioral-social rhythms associated with these health outcomes? (3) Does insomnia status change these relationships?
Participants had an average age of 68.3 years and included 37 older adults with insomnia and 30 good sleepers. Measures of behavioral-social rhythm regularity, BMI, depressive symptoms and pain were collected via self-report. Analyses included independent t-tests and hierarchical regression models.
Both groups showed similar levels of behavioral-social rhythm regularity and BMI. However, individuals with insomnia reported greater pain and higher depressive symptom scores. Greater regularity in behavioral-social rhythms was associated with lower BMI, less pain, and fewer depressive symptoms, and these associations held regardless of insomnia status.
The findings suggest that promoting consistent behavioral-social rhythms could be a practical target for education and interventions aimed at improving health outcomes in older adults, independent of whether they have insomnia.