1115 Bedtime Procrastination, Negative Affect, and Emotion Regulation

Abstract Introduction Bedtime procrastination, delaying going to bed despite ample opportunity (Kroese et al., 2014), can have negative consequences (Hill et al., 2025). Little is known about what drives bedtime procrastination, though emotion regulation has been identified as a possible mechanism. Possibly, bedtime procrastination is a result of the inability to regulate negative emotions effectively. However, strategy-specific investigations are limited. We aimed to understand if the link between negative affectivity and bedtime procrastination was moderated by difficulty using adaptive strategies, and overuse of maladaptive strategies. Methods Participants were 108 undergraduate students (Mage = 19.2, SD = 1.43) that were primarily White (N = 93) women (N = 57). They completed a Qualtrics survey that included the 1) Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) as a measure of negative affect, 2) State-Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (SDERS) to measure underuse of adaptive strategies, 3) Cognitive Behavioral Avoidance Scale (CBAS) as a measure of overuse of avoidance, and 4) Bedtime Procrastination Scale. Results Across two a priori moderation models, negative affect significantly predicted greater bedtime procrastination (SDERS model: β = 0.32, p = .017; CBAS model: β = 0.21, p = .028), whereas SDERS, CBAS, and both interaction terms were nonsignificant. Because the CBAS model approached significance, and it assesses multiple forms of avoidance that may differentially relate to bedtime procrastination, we conducted exploratory regression analyses of its four subscales (moderating effects were not evaluated here). After Holm correction, the Cognitive Social (β = 0.362, p = .005), Behavioral Nonsocial (β = 0.304, p = .009), and Cognitive Nonsocial (β = 0.355, p = .036) subscales were each significantly associated with bedtime procrastination. The Behavioral Social subscale was not significant (β = 0.215, p = .099). Conclusion Negative affect predicted bedtime procrastination. However, emotion regulation did not moderate this relation as hypothesized. Exploratory analyses implied specific types of avoidance matter, Cognitive and Behavioral Nonsocial avoidance, plus Cognitive Social avoidance. This suggests bedtime procrastination may function as an extension of avoidance rather than a failed adaptive regulation. The study is limited by the cross-sectional design and homogenous sample. Support (if any) University of Arkansas Howells Student Research Grant (Grant Number: 2110.01S)