Associations Between Light Exposure Behaviors, Sleep Quality, Eating Behaviors, and Gut Microbiota-Related Dietary Patterns Among Adults

Abstract

Background: Modern lifestyles characterized by artificial light exposure, screen use, and altered sleep routines may be related to eating behaviors and dietary patterns relevant to the gut microbial environment. Although these factors have been investigated individually, limited evidence has examined self-reported light-exposure behaviors, sleep, eating behavior, and gut microbiota-related dietary patterns simultaneously within a single analytical framework. Objective: The aim of this study was to examine associations between five self-reported light-exposure behaviors and the global PSQI score, eating-behavior domains, and FFQ-GM-derived gut microbiota-related dietary pattern scores among adults in the recruited sample. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 518 adults aged 18–64 years recruited in Amman, Jordan, between April and May 2026 using convenience sampling. Participants completed the LEBA, the Arabic PSQI, the Arabic TFEQ-R18, and an Arabic-adapted gut microbiota-focused food frequency questionnaire (FFQ-GM). Associations were examined using Spearman’s rho and multivariable linear regression; multiplicity across the 25 LEBA factor–outcome coefficient tests was addressed using the Benjamini–Hochberg false discovery rate. Results: In the analyzed sample, 87.3% of participants had a global PSQI score > 5. Several LEBA factor–outcome coefficients had nominal p values < 0.05. Blue-light-filter use was positively associated with the global PSQI score (β = 0.29, p = 0.020), whereas phone use in bed (β = −0.43, p = 0.002) and light exposure before bedtime (β = −0.51, p = 0.009) were negatively associated with the global PSQI score. After false-discovery-rate adjustment across the 25 individual coefficient tests, most individual associations did not remain below the 0.05 threshold; therefore, these coefficient-level findings are interpreted as exploratory. Conclusions: Self-reported light-exposure behaviors were associated with questionnaire-derived sleep scores, eating-behavior domains, and FFQ-GM-derived gut microbiota-related dietary pattern scores. The cross-sectional design does not establish temporal direction, causality, or biological mechanism.