A 'time for bed' anchor: alarm and an end-of-day ritual

Wait-list controlled RCT (n=60, non-clinical young adults). The behavioral intervention produced a 35.56% drop in Bedtime Procrastination Scale scores (d=2.19), ~46 min earlier bedtime on sleep diary (d=1.22), and improved sleep efficiency (d=1.25). Supports structured behavioral interventions against bedtime procrastination, but the sample was not ADHD/autism and skewed young/female.

Two randomized trials of Mental Contrasting with Implementation Intentions (MCII) - a cue-linked, pre-planned-action strategy (same family as 'alarm cue + fixed bedtime ritual'). MCII reduced bedtime procrastination as a quick, low-cost self-regulation tool, supporting the mechanism behind an external cue, though in general student samples, not ADHD/autism.

Foundational work framing bedtime procrastination as a self-regulation failure; later cross-sectional and diary studies link it to low perceived daytime autonomy / need-frustration (Self-Determination Theory). This supports the method's core claim that restoring autonomy earlier in the day weakens the nighttime compensatory urge - but this is mechanistic/correlational, not a trial that manipulated daytime autonomy.

Small double-blind pilot RCT (n=32 students). Transdiagnostic CBT including behavioral structuring improved bedtime procrastination, emotion regulation and sleep beliefs with large effect sizes maintained at 3-month follow-up. Reinforces that structured end-of-day behavioral routines help, but again a general (non-ADHD/autism), tiny sample.