Procrastination and Mental Health Status Among Students in Serbia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Medo Gutic, Branimir Vukcevic, Aleksandar Stevanovic, Ardea Milidrag, Ivana Bulatovic, Teodora Safiye

Objectives: Procrastination or avoidance of important tasks is a relatively common phenomenon, especially in the student population. Researchers believe that anxiety and distress are triggers of chronic procrastination because putting off unpleasant tasks and obligations leads to immediate relief, despite the negative long-term effects of such behavior. This study aimed to examine whether indicators of mental health – depression, anxiety, and stress are significant predictors of procrastination among students.

Methods: The sample included 658 students, of which 548 were female and 110 were male. The average age of the respondents was 23.16 years (SD = 3.02). The following instruments were used: the General Procrastination Scale (GPS), the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21), as well as the Sociodemographic Data Questionnaire, which was created for the purposes of this study.

Results: It was shown that depression in the female subsample was a significant predictor of procrastination (ß=0.54, p<0.01), which means that depression increases procrastination in female students. Anxiety and stress, as well as the age of the students, did not prove to be significant predictors of procrastination in either male or female students.

Conclusion: The obtained findings may have important practical implications for institutions whose domain of work is providing psychological support and counseling to students, then, for a better understanding of the factors that are important for understanding the problem of procrastination, as well as for the development of preventive programs for recognizing and overcoming early signs of procrastination in students.

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