The Relationship between Problematic Social Media Use and Sleep Procrastination: A Chain Mediation Model and Intervention Study

Objective: To explore the impact of problematic social media use on sleep procrastination among college students and its underlying mechanisms, examine the chain mediating role of mindfulness and ego depletion, and verify the intervention effect of mindfulness training, so as to provide theoretical and practical basis for improving college students’ sleep procrastination. Methods: Study 1 adopted a questionnaire survey method to measure problematic social media use, mindfulness, ego depletion, and sleep procrastination among 680 college students, and tested the relationships between variables through statistical analysis. Study 2 selected 40 college students with high levels of problematic social media use and sleep procrastination, randomly divided them into an experimental group (receiving 8-week mindfulness intervention) and a control group (without intervention), and evaluated the effect through pre-test and post-test. Results: Study 1 showed that problematic social media use significantly and positively predicted sleep procrastination (β=0.12, p<0.001). Mindfulness (β=-0.16, p<0.001) and ego depletion (β=0.24, p<0.001) played independent mediating roles respectively, and their chain mediating effect was significant (effect value=0.01, 95% CI=[0.002, 0.01]). Study 2 showed that in the experimental group, the level of mindfulness significantly increased (t=-8.77, p<0.001), while ego depletion (t=6.29, p<0.001) and sleep procrastination (t=4.21, p<0.001) significantly decreased, with no significant changes in the control group. Conclusion: Problematic social media use indirectly leads to sleep procrastination by reducing mindfulness and exacerbating ego depletion. Mindfulness training can effectively improve this path, providing a scientific basis and practical plan for college students’ sleep health management.