Bedtime procrastination during the second COVID-19 lockdown in Portugal

ABSTRACT Introduction: Bedtime procrastination is the deliberate delay of the time an individual goes to bed in the absence of external reasons. The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed families to establish new routines and ways of managing newfound roles and responsibilities. This scenario is likely to exacerbate bedtime procrastination due to, for example, a challenge in balancing professional and personal life. Objective: The aim is to present preliminary findings regarding bedtime procrastination and its relation to sociodemographic characteristics, sleep routines, perceived daily fatigue, dinnertime, and activities performed near bedtime, during the second lockdown in Portugal. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted with a sample of 560 adults. Results: During home confinement, most people (79.46%) delayed their bedtime. However, this delay does not seem to be affecting the number of hours of sleep, as 88.60% were sleeping the recommended or appropriate number of hours. Nevertheless, most of the participants reported feeling tired throughout the day (53.04%), and individuals who reported to have procrastinated their sleep are those who reported more tiredness ( r pb =.33, p <.01). Additionally, bedtime procrastination is positively associated with findings related to dinnertime (e.g., dinner between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m., r pb =.19, p<.01) and with engagement in activities near bedtime (e.g., studying/working, r pb =.39, p <.01). Conclusion: Current data shows relationships between bedtime procrastination and most of the studied variables. Specifically, findings indicate that lack of routines, especially scheduled nighttime routines (e.g., studying/working near bedtime), may have contributed to bedtime procrastination during the second lockdown in Portugal.