Understanding the effect of rumination on sleep quality: a mediation model of negative affect and bedtime procrastination

It has been well documented that rumination has a negative effect on sleep quality. However, the mechanism underlying this effect remains unclear. This study investigated the negative effect of rumination on sleep quality mediated by negative affect and bedtime procrastination. In the current study, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Ruminative Responses Scale, Negative Experience Scale, and Bedtime Procrastination Scale were administered to a sample of 1103 college students recruited from an online survey platform, among whom 63% were female. Their age ranged from 17 to 31 with a mean of 20.17 (SD = 1.43). The results indicated that rumination had a significant positive effect on poor sleep quality mediated by negative affect (Effect = 0.10; 95% CI = 0.06, 0.14) and bedtime procrastination (Effect = 0.05; 95% CI = 0.03, 0.07) separately. Meanwhile, this effect could be serially mediated by the two mediators (Effect = 0.04, 95% CI: 0.02, 0.06). These findings suggest that, to improve the sleep quality of college students with high levels of rumination, interventions could be targeted at developing their adaptive emotion regulation strategies and behavioral self-regulation skills.