Assessing motives for delaying bedtime: development and psychometric properties of the reasons for Bedtime Procrastination scale

ABSTRACT Background: Bedtime procrastination (BP) is an increasingly prevalent behavior with detrimental outcomes for individuals. Three reasons for BP have been identified: Deliberate procrastination, mindless procrastination, and strategic delay. Developing an instrument to assess the reasons for BP allows better identification of patterns of behaviors and tailored interventions. The present study aims to develop and study the psychometric properties of the Reasons for Bedtime Procrastination Scale (RBPS). Method: The study sample included adults living in Portugal (N = 653). Validity and reliability analyses were conducted. Results: Principal component analysis suggested that the RBPS is composed of two factors (factor 1 - deliberate and mindless reasons; factor 2 - strategic reasons). Confirmatory factor analysis supported the two-factor structure of the scale (e.g., CFI = .984; TLI = .976 RMSEA = .053). The scale demonstrated good internal consistency, with a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of .85 for factor 1, and of .72 for factor 2. Convergent validity was supported by significant correlations with the number of activities people engage in before going to bed, BP, bedtime gap, fall-asleep time gap, and wake-up time gap. Conclusions: The RBPS appears to represent a reliable way of assessing reasons for BP in the general adult population.