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Bedtime Procrastination in Adolescents
Sleep is an essential process that is biologically insured due to the sleep pressure that builds up in our bodies as our time awake increases and our body’s attempts to maintain a balance between sleep and wakefulness every day (Vidal and Shochat, 2023).
Understanding Bedtime Procrastination
Going to bed is a matter of when rather than if, but it can be postponed. When someone goes to bed later than they intended and there are no external reasons for doing so, it is called bedtime procrastination (Kühnel et.al, 2018). Kroese et al. believe that it is not that bedtime procrastinators dislike sleep, but rather, they have difficulty stopping other activities in order to go to bed (2014).
Adolescents and Sleep
Bedtime procrastination is particularly concerning when it comes to adolescents. Delays in young people’s melatonin (a hormone that assists with falling asleep) secretion means it takes longer for adolescents to feel sleepy and so, they are more likely to delay their bedtimes (Vidal and Shochat, 2023; Kadzikowska-Wrzosek, 2018).
However, even though they do not feel tired, the need for sleep remains the same. Evidence-based guidelines recommend adolescents need between 8-10 hours of sleep every night. When they delay their bedtime, it becomes necessary for adolescents to delay their morning wake times. Of course, on school days, this isn’t possible. Necessary early wake times following late nights means a shorter sleep duration, and bedtime procrastinators end up not getting the amount of sleep they need until the weekend. This leads to irregular sleep patterns throughout the year (Vidal and Shochat, 2023).
Electronic Device Use and Sleep Disruption
It will come as no surprise that adolescents, along with adults, use devices a lot. They have become a widespread and integral part of everyday life.
A study by Pham et al. found that young people who used electronic devices for more than 30 minutes within two hours of bedtime experience poorer sleep quality (2021). Another study by Youngstedt et al. (2016) also found that young people exposed to bright light late at night had higher levels of a melatonin byproduct later at night, suggesting their sleep cycles had shifted to a later time.
Screen time, particularly late in the day or close to bedtime, poses a significant risk to young people's quality of sleep. The US National Sleep Foundation provides guidelines on managing screen time for better sleep.
How Self-Regulation in Adolescents Affects Sleep
Bedtime procrastination can also be caused by a young person’s poor self-regulation and behavioural control (Kadzikowska-Wrzosek 2018). Autonomous motivation requires understanding and accepting the relevance of a behaviour, particularly to one’s own needs (Kadzikowska-Wrzosek, 2018).
If adolescents are unaware of the importance of sleep for their health and functioning or feel that their parents are controlling their sleep, they are likely to have negative or conflicted feelings towards sleep and behave inconsistently.
In a survey-based study of adolescents, Kadzikowska-Wrzosek found staying up later seemed to go hand in hand with lower levels of self-motivation and regulation when it came to sleep( 2018).
Further Reading
Consequences of Insufficient Sleep
It is clear that bedtime procrastination leads to insufficient sleep, and inadequate sleep leads to poorer health and performance. In their literature review, Medic et al. (2017) detailed the short-term consequences of sleep disruption for healthy individuals. They included an increased likelihood of:
- a heightened stress response.
- increased pain.
- depression.
- anxiety.
- poorer cognition.
- poorer memory.
- poorer school performance.
- behaviour problems.
Strategies to Address Bedtime Procrastination
Given the significant consequences of getting less sleep, implementing strategies to reduce bedtime procrastination in adolescents is a top priority. Parents can start by clearing up any doubts a young person may have about sleep while highlighting the positive effects of going to bed at a planned time and getting enough sleep. It is also important to give young people agency when creating new sleep habits and empower them through enhancing feelings of competency. This can be achieved by:
- setting attainable bedtimes.
- giving feedback on progress.
- emphasising the role of learning and gaining experience while developing new skills.
This motivational strategy encourages adolescents to manage their own beneficial bedtime behaviours, enabling them to act from a position of understanding rather than feeling any external pressure (Kadzikowska-Wrzosek, 2018).
Self-control is more than just making an effort to resist one more episode of TV.; Instead, adolescents can minimise the need for resistance by building habits that stop the urges from popping up. This might include avoiding or limiting exposure to blue light at night by using a blue light filter app, a time control app, or setting the alarm an hour before bed as a reminder to turn off electronic devices (Kühnel et.al, 2018; Pham et. al., 2021). It could also involve setting regular bedtimes and holding to them (Kadzikowska-Wrzosek, 2018). Gillebaart and de Riddler recommend implementation intentions as a great way to establish and ingrain habits (2015).
These are goals with action plans that specify the day, time, and location where certain behaviours will occur (Clear, 2018). For instance,
I will go to bed at 10 pm in my bedroom each weeknight.
When life interrupts these implementation intentions, an if-then formula can be used:
If I did not go to bed by 10pm last night, I won’t touch my phone for two hours before bed at 10pm tonight.
For more tips on improving teen sleep habits, check out our blog post on sleep hygiene for adolescents.
Getting Support
Is your teen struggling with bedtime procrastination?
Our expert child psychologists at Quirky Kid can help. Book a consultation today to improve your adolescent's sleep habits and overall
View article references
Clear, J. (2018). Atomic Habits: An easy and proven way to build habits and break bad ones. Random House Business. Gillebaart, M., & de Riddler, D.T.D. (2015). Effortless self-control: A novel perspective on response conflict strategies in trait self-control. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 9 (2), 88-99. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12160
Kadzikowska-Wrzosek, R. (2018). Insufficient sleep among adolescents: The role of bedtime procrastination, chronotype and autonomous vs. controlled motivational regulations. Current
Psychology, 39, 1031 - 1040. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-018-9825-7
Kroese, F. M., De Ridder, D. T. D., Evers, C., & Adriaanse, M. A. (2014). Bedtime procrastination: introducing a new area of procrastination. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, Article 611. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00611
Kühnel, J., Syrek, C. J., & Dreher, A. (2018). Why Don’t You Go to Bed on Time? A Daily Diary Study on the Relationships between Chronotype, Self-Control Resources and the Phenomenon of Bedtime Procrastination. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, Article 77. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00077
Medic, G., Wille, M., & Hemels, M. E.H (2017). Short- and long-term health consequences of sleep disruption. Nature of Science and Sleep, 9, 151-161. https://doi.org/10.2147/NSS.S134864
Pham, H. T., Chuang, H., Kuo, C., Yeh, T., & Liao, W. (2021). Electronic Device Use before Bedtime and Sleep Quality among University Students. Healthcare, 9, Article 1091. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9091091
Vidal, H, & Shochat, T. (2023). Sleep in adolescents. In. C. Kushida (Ed.) Encyclopedia of sleep and circadian rhythms (pp.583 - 587). Academic Press.
Youngstedt, S. D., Kline, C. E., Elliott, J. A., Zielinski, M. R., Devlin, T. M., & Moore, T. A. (2016). Circadian Phase-Shifting effects of bright light, exercise, and bright light + exercise. Journal of Circadian Rhythms, 14(1). 1-8. https://doi.org/10.5334/jcr.137
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