Bedtime procrastination refers to the act of delaying going to bed despite recognizing the potential negative consequences. Although existing measures assess delays in bedtime, they fail to capture the underlying intentions and motivations. This study aimed to develop a scale that reflects the diverse behavioral patterns and motivations underlying bedtime procrastination to allow examination of how individuals with different patterns of procrastination behave and subsequently experience sleep-related issues. In Study 1 (N = 408) and Study 2 (N = 453), we developed the "Bedtime Procrastination Scale," which measures three patterns of procrastination: deliberate procrastination, mindless procrastination, and strategic procrastination. The scale demonstrated validity in terms of its generalizability, structural aspects, and external evidence. Furthermore, Study 3 (N = 406) revealed that these three patterns were associated with sleep hygiene behaviors and sleep-related problems through different mechanisms. Finally, the implications for further research using this scale are discussed.
Toyama et al. (Thu,) studied this question.