Putting off bedtime could be hard on your emotional health – @theU
A new study led by the University of Utah has found that bedtime procrastination, the practice of deliberately delaying going to bed, in young adults is associated with specific personality traits, including depressive tendencies.
The findings were presented on June 8 at the SLEEP 2025 annual meeting in Seattle by Steven Carson, a doctoral candidate in psychology in the U’s College of Social and Behavioral Science.
Results show it was associated with higher neuroticism and lower conscientiousness and extraversion. These results remained significant after statistically adjusting for the person’s natural tendency for specific sleep-wake patterns, known as their chronotype.
“Our study demonstrated that individuals who habitually procrastinate their bedtime were actually less likely to report seeking out exciting, engaging or enjoyable activities,” Carlson said. “Instead, bedtime procrastinators reported having emotional experiences consistent with depression, specifically endorsing a tendency toward experiencing negative emotions and lacking positive emotional experiences.”
Sleep is essential to health. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that adults sleep seven or more hours per night on a regular basis to promote optimal health. Bedtime procrastination reduces the opportunity to get sufficient sleep.
The study focused on 390 young adults with an average age of 24 years. They completed a chronotype questionnaire to assess whether they are an “evening type” who prefers to stay up and sleep late or a “morning type” who prefers to go to bed and wake up early. Participants also completed a questionnaire to assess five personality traits: neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness. They completed a sleep diary for 14 days to assess bedtime procrastination.
According to Carlson, the study suggests that emotional health is a potential target for interventions to address the widespread problem of bedtime procrastination.
“Bedtime procrastination is not only associated with poor planning, low self-discipline and time management problems, but also potentially due to difficulties managing negative affect and anxiety prior to bed,” he said. “Given the ubiquity of this behavior, and its impact on sleep health, we hope to extend this research to determine whether reducing negative emotions prior to bedtime can be an effective treatment for bedtime procrastination.”
The research abstract was published in an online supplement of the journal Sleep, under the title Depressive and Dysregulated: Examining Personality Factors Among Bedtime Procrastinators. SLEEP is the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, a joint venture of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society. Carlson’s co-author is U psychology professor, Paula Williams.
About the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC
The APSS is a joint venture of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society. The APSS organizes the SLEEP annual meeting each June (sleepmeeting.org).
About the American Academy of Sleep Medicine
Established in 1975, the AASM is a medical association that advances sleep care and enhances sleep health to improve lives. The AASM membership includes more than 9,500 physicians, scientists, and other health care professionals who help people who have sleep disorders. The AASM also accredits 2,300 sleep centers that are providing the highest quality of sleep care across the country (aasm.org).
About the Sleep Research Society
The SRS is a professional membership society that advances sleep and circadian science. The SRS serves its members and the field of sleep and circadian research through training and education, and by providing forums for the collaboration and exchange of ideas. The SRS facilitates its goals through scientific meetings and trainee-specific programming, and by advocating for federal sleep and circadian research funding. The SRS also publishes the peer-reviewed, scientific journals Sleep and Sleep Advances (sleepresearchsociety.org).
