Defining and reducing 'bedtime procrastination' to promote better sleep in university students.
Background:
University students tend to have poor sleep and experience daytime sleepiness, which can affect their health, wellbeing and academic outcomes. A major contributor to poor-quality sleep is ‘bedtime procrastination’, i.e., a failure to go to bed at an intended time, without the influence of external factors. However, it remains unclear what ‘bedtime procrastination’ means in behavioural terms. This PhD aims to (a) explore and define the behaviours involved in ‘bedtime procrastination’, and (b) develop an intervention to reduce 'bedtime procrastination' behaviour in students.
Method:
Study 1a (scoping review) will document the behaviours examined in 'bedtime procrastination' and sleep health studies, how these behaviours have been measured, and the interventions developed to date. In Study 1b (systematic review) I will code which techniques were used in the intervention studies identified in study 1a, and use meta-regression to establish ‘what works’ for reducing 'bedtime procrastination'.
Study 2a (cross-sectional survey) will identify which 'bedtime procrastination' behaviours are most strongly related to sleep outcomes. Study 2b (predictive study) will model the modifiable determinants of 'bedtime procrastination' behaviours identified in study 2a.
Study 3 (mapping study) will analyse sleep guidance currently available to students at UK universities, to explore how and to what extent this tackles behaviours identified in Study 2a.
Study 4 (co-design study) will develop a theory- and evidence-based intervention to reduce 'bedtime procrastination' in students.
Study 5 (qualitative study) will assess the acceptability of the co-designed intervention.
Future steps will involve a post-doctoral study to test the effectivness of the intervention.