The Relationship Between Physical Activity and College Students’ Bedtime Procrastination: The Moderating Effect of Past Time Perspective and Childhood Socioeconomic Status

This study explores the relationship between physical activity and bedtime procrastination among college students, focusing on how past time perspective and childhood socioeconomic status moderate this relationship. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 931 participants (64.7% female, aged 17-26) recruited from Tianjin and Wuhan, China. They completed a questionnaire survey on physical activity, sleep procrastination, past time perspective (comprising both negative and positive dimensions), and childhood socioeconomic status. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 22.0 and MPLUS 22.0. Results showed that higher levels of physical activity were associated with lower levels of bedtime procrastination. Past time perspective moderated this relationship. Specifically, physical activity had a stronger association with bedtime procrastination among college students with a low past negative time perspective or a high past positive time perspective. Childhood socioeconomic status also moderated the relationship between physical activity and bedtime procrastination, with physical activity having a stronger association with bedtime procrastination among college students with a low childhood socioeconomic status. These findings suggest that physical activity protects against bedtime procrastination, with stronger effects among students holding both more positive and less negative views of the past, as well as those from lower childhood socioeconomic status.