General procrastination and bedtime procrastination as serial mediators of the relationship between temporal perspective and sleep outcomes

Adequate and sufficient sleep is essential for good health, effective functioning, and well-being, yet recent trends show increasing sleep deprivation, especially among adolescents and young adults. General procrastination and bedtime procrastination understood as the tendency to delay going to bed without external pressure, may contribute to sleep deprivation and fatigue. This study investigated how individual differences in time perspective are related to sleep sufficiency and daytime fatigue, two different sleep outcomes. For these relationships, the possible role of an intermediate pathway leading through general procrastination and then through bedtime procrastination was also examined. Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory, Irrational Procrastination Scale, Bedtime Procrastination Scale, and Sleep Inventory were completed online by 399 university students (89% females) between the ages of 19 and 27 (M = 21.7, SD = 1.83). Future time perspective predicted lower general procrastination, which in turn was associated with lower bedtime procrastination, and consequently higher sleep sufficiency and lower daytime fatigue. Past negative time perspective predicted higher general procrastination, which in turn was associated with higher bedtime procrastination and consequently lower sleep sufficiency and higher daytime fatigue. These findings suggest that time perspective, general procrastination and bedtime procrastination may play an important role in predicting sleep sufficiency and daytime fatigue.