The role of psychological distress as a potential route through which procrastination may confer risk for reduced life satisfaction

Abstract

Procrastination, mental health problems and decreased life satisfaction among university students constitutes an issue over which there is growing public concern. Yet, there is little research explaining the mechanisms through which academic procrastination may lead to less life satisfaction. The present study aimed to explore the link between procrastination and psychopathology among 2 samples (sample 1, N = 681 and sample 2, N = 183) of Greek University students. We also further tested the assumption that psychological distress would mediate the relationship between procrastination and life satisfaction. Data were analyzed using correlational analyses and structural equation modeling. In the first Study, procrastination was related to psychopathology. In the second study, results revealed that students who had the tendency to procrastinate in general, or their academic obligations, in particular, reported less psychological well-being, more anxiety, more psychological distress, less emotional ties, less general positive affect, more loss of behavioral and emotional control, more depressive symptoms and less life satisfaction. More importantly, the model exhibited a good fit to the data, while the bootstrapped standardized indirect effect of procrastination on life satisfaction was statistically significant supporting the hypothesis that Psychological distress partially mediated the relationship between procrastination and life satisfaction. In conclusion, difficulty to meet deadlines within a specific time-frame is related to worse mental health and decreased overall life satisfaction Academic procrastination, general procrastination, psychopathology, mental health, life satisfaction.