Evaluation of academic procrastination in adolescents based on self-regulation of learning: implications for educational guidance

Abstract

Procrastination has been associated mainly with the educational environment and with the lack of strategies to self-regulate learning in students at different school levels. In this scenario, the present study aimed to evaluate the relationship between academic procrastination with emotional, psychological, and academic performance, from the self-regulation process, also considering gender differences, to understand its possible causes and consequences. A sample of 12,207 students in Mexico (53.7% female), aged between 15 and 20 years, were administered inventories and scales that measure procrastination, self-esteem, emotional competencies, psychological distress and academic performance, and a quantitative correlational and causal study was carried out. The results showed the following possible causes of procrastination, in order of influence: deficiencies in interpersonal emotional competencies, intrapersonal emotional competencies and self-esteem, and as possible consequences of procrastination, psychological distress and, to a lesser extent, poor academic performance. Therefore, there is a need to develop educational strategies for emotional regulation with special attention to interpersonal competencies in the male gender and intrapersonal competencies in the female gender. In addition, it is necessary to generate psychological support strategies, mainly for the female gender, to strengthen their self-esteem and to pay attention to the psychological discomfort generated by procrastination.