Socially motivated bedtime procrastination impairs sleep and wellbeing in residential college students

Some individuals socialize late at night even if it interferes with sleep. We tested predictions that (1) students living together in a residential college would exhibit shorter sleep and poorer next-day mood when they procrastinated bedtime for social leisure activities, and (2) in-person social bedtime procrastination with co-residents would be predicted by students' scores for extraversion and need to belong.

Actigraphy watches and Bluetooth beacons were used to measure sleep patterns and physical proximity in 104 students during the same 2-week period. Daily diaries recorded student involvement in social bedtime procrastination events, next-day mood, and daytime sleepiness. Mixed models tested associations of social bedtime procrastination with sleep and wellbeing, and exponential random graph models tested associations of psychological traits with formation of ties in the social bedtime procrastination network.

In-person social bedtime procrastination was associated with shorter sleep by 1.4 h and worse next-day mood and daytime sleepiness compared with not delaying bedtime. Students' bedtimes were strongly correlated with their last objectively measured proximity to the person involved in delaying their bedtime. Students who scored higher on extraversion and need to belong were more likely to be part of, and had stronger ties within, the social bedtime procrastination network.

Socially motivated bedtime procrastination is a major barrier to obtaining healthy sleep in residential college students. Individuals who forgo sleep to socialize are worse off the next day. Students who accept this tradeoff may do so to satisfy their drive to socialize or need for belonging.