Bedtime procrastination, a common behavior among young adults, has been linked to various cognitive, emotional, and physiological factors. However, we still have limited knowledge about its origins and development.
A recent study published in Child Abuse & Neglect aimed to investigate the relationship between childhood environmental risk and bedtime procrastination, while also considering the role of life history strategy and sense of control.
Our childhood experiences have a lasting impact on our behavior. Adverse childhood environments can be categorized into two types: harshness and unpredictability. Harshness refers factors associated with disability and death in a population, while unpredictability reflects the varying rates of environmental harshness over time and space.
Socioeconomic status is often used as an indicator of environmental harshness, while indicators of unpredictability include residential mobility, parental transitions, and changes in parental employment.
The study involved 453 Chinese college students who completed online surveys. The results revealed a positive association between childhood environmental risk and bedtime procrastination. This suggests that individuals who had difficult childhood experiences were more likely to engage in bedtime procrastination as adults. These findings align with previous research indicating that challenging childhood environments can lead to sleep problems and unhealthy behaviors.
The study also found that a lower sense of control partially explained the relationship between childhood environmental risk and bedtime procrastination. Individuals who felt less control over their lives due to their childhood experiences were more prone to engaging in bedtime procrastination.
Additionally, life history strategy, which is influenced by childhood environments, played a role. People with faster life history strategies, developed as a response to challenging and unpredictable environments, tended to have a reduced sense of control, leading to increased bedtime procrastination.
Understanding the connection between childhood environmental risk and bedtime procrastination is crucial. By focusing on improving the sense of control and adopting slower life history strategies, interventions can be developed to help individuals reduce bedtime procrastination and improve the quality of their sleep.
“The results provide empirical support for contentions that slowing LH strategy and improving sense of control should be considered in intervening bedtime procrastination and improving sleep quality among youths,” the researchers said.
Future research should use long-term or experimental studies to establish causal relationships, consider objective measures of childhood environment, and explore additional factors that influence bedtime procrastination.
The study, “Childhood environmental risk and youth bedtime procrastination: A path model with life history strategy and sense of control as mediators“, was authored by Lei Shao, Juanjuan Jin, and Guoliang Yu.