Why Would You Sleep? A Study on Awareness of Short-term and Long-term Health Consequences of Insufficient Sleep in association with Bedtime Procrastination, moderated by Chronotype

Abstract

Insufficient sleep is a prevalent problem in society, with various negative health outcomes, short-term as well as long-term. In the current study, bedtime procrastination was investigated, which is defined as failing to go to bed in time, while no external circumstances prevent a person from doing so. The aim of this study was to find out if an association exists between awareness of the health consequences of a lack of sleep and bedtime procrastination, with the hypothesis that more awareness would mean less bedtime procrastination. Secondly, a distinction was made between awareness of short-term and long-term consequences, with the expectation that short-term awareness would have a stronger association with bedtime procrastination. Thirdly, a possible moderating effect of chronotype was investigated, with the expectation that the associations would be stronger among people who tend towards eveningness. A cross-sectional study was done, in which 188 healthy participants aged 19 up to 74 filled in an online questionnaire, of whom 141 were concluded in analyses. A hierarchical regression showed that short-term awareness, but not long-term awareness or awareness as a total of these two, was associated with bedtime procrastination. No moderating effect of chronotype was found. Explanations for these findings are given, as well as strengths and limitations of this study. The findings of this study are of great theoretical and practical value, because they show that prevention programs should focus on short-term and not on long-term health consequences when targeting awareness in the population. Suggestions for future research were given.