Academic stress, depressive symptoms, and bedtime procrastination: The paradoxical buffering role of eveningness in a moderated chain mediation model
Abstract
Background Academic involution in China has been linked to heightened stress among university students, yet the depressive symptoms as a central indicator of emotion regulation failure mechanisms associated with academic stress to sleep-related maladaptive behaviors remain unclear. This study investigates whether social media addiction and depressive symptoms sequentially mediate the academic stress and bedtime procrastination relationship while examining the moderating role of chronotype. Methods A sample of 541 Chinese university students (46.2% male) completed self-report measures of academic stress (PAS), social media addiction (BSMAS), depressive symptoms (PHQ), bedtime procrastination (BPS), chronotype (rMEQ), and physical activity (PAQ-AD). Two Moderated chain mediation models were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) with latent interaction terms (LMS) in R. Results Academic stress was positively associated with bedtime procrastination through a sequential pathway: academic stress → social media addiction → depressive symptoms → bedtime procrastination (b = 0.016, 95% CI [0.01, 0.03], p = .003). Chronotype significantly moderated the depressive symptoms → bedtime procrastination path (b3 = –0.298, p < .001), such that the positive association was weaker for evening-type than morning-type students. The moderated mediation model explained 56% of the variance in bedtime procrastination, compared to 38% in the mediation-only model. Limitations Cross-sectional design precludes causal inferences; single-item measure of academic stress; findings primarily based on undergraduate students, limiting generalizability. Conclusions Academic stress contributes to bedtime procrastination via avoidant coping and affective dysregulation. Eveningness paradoxically buffers the depressive symptoms–bedtime procrastination link. Chronotype-informed interventions may be promising.
Versions
Related
- Physical Activity and Depressive Symptoms in Guangdong University Students: A Cross-Sectional Moderated Serial Indirect-Association Model Involving Self-Esteem, Positive Psychological Capital, and Perceived Social Support.
- Validity and Reliability of the Turkish While-In-Bed-Smartphone-Use-Induced Sleep Procrastination Scale
- The relationships among achievement motivation health related physical fitness and academic procrastination in adolescents from a multitheoretical perspective
- Residual risk persists in severely calcified lesions despite optimal stent expansion: a paradoxical finding from an IVUS-guided PCI cohort
- Paradoxical relief after seizures: a diagnostic signal distinguishing functional/dissociative from epileptic seizures
BibTeX
@misc{he2026academic,
title = {{Academic stress, depressive symptoms, and bedtime procrastination: The paradoxical buffering role of eveningness in a moderated chain mediation model}},
author = {Yanyan He and Xiaoqian Yu},
howpublished = {PsyArXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.31234/osf.io/j5zna_v1},
url = {https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/j5zna_v1/},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Academic stress, depressive symptoms, and bedtime procrastination: The paradoxical buffering role of eveningness in a moderated chain mediation model
AU - Yanyan He
AU - Xiaoqian Yu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/09
PB - PsyArXiv
DO - 10.31234/osf.io/j5zna_v1
UR - https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/j5zna_v1/
AB - Background Academic involution in China has been linked to heightened stress among university students, yet the depressive symptoms as a central indicator of emotion regulation failure mechanisms associated with academic stress to sleep-related maladaptive behaviors remain unclear. This study investigates whether social media addiction and depressive symptoms sequentially mediate the academic stress and bedtime procrastination relationship while examining the moderating role of chronotype. Methods A sample of 541 Chinese university students (46.2% male) completed self-report measures of academic stress (PAS), social media addiction (BSMAS), depressive symptoms (PHQ), bedtime procrastination (BPS), chronotype (rMEQ), and physical activity (PAQ-AD). Two Moderated chain mediation models were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) with latent interaction terms (LMS) in R. Results Academic stress was positively associated with bedtime procrastination through a sequential pathway: academic stress → social media addiction → depressive symptoms → bedtime procrastination (b = 0.016, 95% CI [0.01, 0.03], p = .003). Chronotype significantly moderated the depressive symptoms → bedtime procrastination path (b3 = –0.298, p < .001), such that the positive association was weaker for evening-type than morning-type students. The moderated mediation model explained 56% of the variance in bedtime procrastination, compared to 38% in the mediation-only model. Limitations Cross-sectional design precludes causal inferences; single-item measure of academic stress; findings primarily based on undergraduate students, limiting generalizability. Conclusions Academic stress contributes to bedtime procrastination via avoidant coping and affective dysregulation. Eveningness paradoxically buffers the depressive symptoms–bedtime procrastination link. Chronotype-informed interventions may be promising.
ER -