Future career clarity and bedtime procrastination among college students: a self-regulation perspective

Bedtime procrastination is common among university students and is associated with insufficient sleep and a range of adverse physical and psychological health outcomes. Previous studies have primarily focused on individual factors, such as self-control, mobile phone addiction, and negative emotions, while the interrelationships among future career clarity, learning experiences, exercise, and bedtime procrastination remain largely unexplored.

Based on self-regulation theory, this study aimed to examine the association between future career clarity and bedtime procrastination among university students. It further examined whether learning satisfaction and learning stress statistically mediated this association in sequence, and whether exercise moderated the association between learning satisfaction and bedtime procrastination.

A survey was conducted among 22,983 college students in Northeast China using an online questionnaire combined with respondent-driven sampling. Data were analyzed using partial correlation analysis, mediation effect testing, and moderation effect testing, with effect sizes and confidence intervals (CIs) estimated using the bootstrap method.

Partial correlation analysis revealed a significant negative correlation between future career clarity and bedtime procrastination (r = -0.282, p < 0.001). Mediation effect testing showed that the total indirect effect of future career clarity on bedtime procrastination was significant (effect = -0.1024, 95% CI [-0.1092, -0.0958]), with learning satisfaction and learning stress serving as mediators individually and jointly constituting a chain mediation pathway. Moderation effect analysis indicated that exercise significantly moderated the relationship between learning satisfaction and bedtime procrastination (β = -0.0135, p < 0.05). The mediation effects were significant for both the low exercise group (simple slopes = -0.1816, LLCI = -0.1966, ULCI = -0.1667) and the high exercise group (simple slopes = -0.2177, LLCI = -0.2467, ULCI = -0.1887), with the negative predictive effect being stronger in the high exercise group.

Future career clarity not only negatively predicts bedtime procrastination among college students directly but also exerts an indirect influence through the serial mediating effects of learning satisfaction and learning stress. Exercise plays a positive moderating role in this pathway. Grounded in self-regulation theory, these findings elucidates the relationships among goal setting, emotional monitoring, and behavioral adjustment, providing both a theoretical foundation and practical guidance for universities to reduce college students' bedtime procrastination through multidimensional approaches such as career planning education, stress management, and the promotion of physical exercise.