Key Takeaways
Extended Takeaways
- The Bedtime Procrastination Scale total score was associated with worse sleep metrics: higher scores correlated with fewer hours of sleep (r = −0.17), more daytime tiredness during the week (r = 0.26), and more days with too little sleep (r = 0.36), with all P values < .001.
- Bedtime procrastination scores did not differ by sex or academic stage, suggesting screening should not be limited to female students or those in their final year; mean (SD) scores were 29.0 (7.5) in males and 29.2 (7.6) in females, and 28.6 (7.5) in students less than halfway through coursework versus 29.9 (7.0) in final-year students.
- Students who reported poor sleep had notably higher Bedtime Procrastination Scale scores than those who did not, with mean (SD) scores of 31.7 (6.9) versus 27.3 (7.5), indicating that a simple complaint of poor sleep may be a practical prompt to assess bedtime procrastination.
- Reported sleep disruption from external, environmental, or other factors was linked to higher bedtime procrastination, with mean (SD) scores of 31.0 (7.5) versus 27.9 (7.3), whereas reported medical or psychiatric disorders were not, with mean (SD) scores of 30.2 (6.9) versus 29.0 (7.6).
- The factor analysis raises a measurement concern for clinicians and researchers using the Bedtime Procrastination Scale in Indian students: a 2-factor solution emerged, with factor 1 explaining 29.3% of the variance and factor 2 explaining 20.0%, and the split tracked forward-scored versus reverse-scored items.
- Response patterns were broadly distributed across the full possible score range of 9 to 45 rather than forming distinct groups, so the authors' operational cutoffs may be more useful for pragmatic case-finding than for assuming natural categories of bedtime procrastination.
