Validation of the Spanish version of the Irrational Procrastination Scale (IPS)

The role of big five traits and self-esteem on academic procrastination in Honduran and Spanish university students: A cross-cultural study

Academic procrastination, a prevalent issue in higher education, has been associated with various adverse outcomes. This study aims to discern and compare the degrees of academic procrastination among university students in Honduras and Spain while also investigating the relationship between academic procrastination and the Big Five personality factors alongside self-esteem. The sample comprised 457 university students, encompassing 237 Hondurans and 220 Spaniards. The research employed descriptive, comparative, correlational, and regression analyses. Honduran university students exhibited a significantly lower level of academic procrastination. Correlational analyses revealed that self-esteem and all Big Five personality factors, except for neuroticism in the Spanish cohort, displayed noteworthy associations with academic procrastination. Further regression analyses demonstrated that conscientiousness emerged as a significant predictor of procrastination in both samples. This study's findings can be pivotal in identifying students at risk of procrastination at an early stage. Additionally, the results can inform the development of intervention programs designed to mitigate procrastination tendencies among university students.

Procrastination and physical activity: The moderated mediating effect of grit

Objective: To explore the relation between procrastination and physical activity in college students and test whether grit mediated, age and gender moderated the process. Participants: 610 college students (aged 20.07 ± 1.53; 45.2% males) in Shanghai. Methods: Procrastination, grit and physical activity were tested respectively by International Procrastination Scale, Grit-S scale and International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Results: Correlation analysis showed that procrastination, grit and physical activity were related in pairs. Procrastination was negatively correlated with physical activity. Grit mediated between procrastination and physical activity. Females showed stronger moderation effect from grit to physical activity than males, while the effect between procrastination and grit was more significant for the younger. Conclusion: The moderated mediating model provided a new strategy of improving personality traits which contributed to lack of physical activity. More psychologically relevant measures should be taken in reducing procrastination to improve physical activity via improving grit.

Spanish validation of the pure procrastination scale: dimensional structure, internal consistency, temporal stability, gender invariance, and relationships with personality and satisfaction with life

The objective of the current study was to adapt and validate the pure procrastination scale (PPS) for the Spanish adult population. Procrastination can have numerous consequences in daily life, making it essential to have reliable and valid instruments for measuring procrastination. Thus, this study was conducted to address this need. The sample consisted of 596 adults aged 18-83 years (M = 35.25, SD = 13.75). In addition to the PPS, participants completed two procrastination measures, namely the irrational procrastination scale and the decisional procrastination questionnaire, alongside the Big Five inventory and the satisfaction with life scale. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis revealed a three-factor structure of the PPS. The examination of the reliability of scores in terms of internal consistency and temporal stability showed satisfactory results for the PPS scores. Moreover, gender invariance was observed at the scalar level. Finally, the PPS scores correlated with other measures of procrastination, personality traits, and satisfaction with life in the expected direction and magnitude. In conclusion, the Spanish PPS offers valid and reliable scores when administered to adult population.

Development and psychometric evaluation of nurses' health-related procrastination scale

There is no valid scale to measure health related procrastination, especially in nurses. This study was conducted to design and assess the psychometric properties of the health-related procrastination scale in nurses. This exploratory mixed method study was conducted between April 2017 and May 2019. The design and psychometric assessment of the nurses' health-related procrastination scale (NHRPS) was carried out through quantitative and qualitative phases. In the qualitative phase, nurses were interviewed and a review of literature was carried out to generate the items. In the quantitative phase, the scale validity was evaluated using the face, content and construct validity and its reliability was evaluated through the Cronbach's alpha, McDonald's omega, intra-class correlation coefficient, standard error of measurement, minimal detectable changes. The results of the exploratory factor analysis showed that, with 29 items and five factors, the NHRPS explains 54.81% of the variance in NHRPS. The results of confirmatory factor analysis also confirmed the final fit of model with five factors (RAMSEA: 0.08, CMIN/DF: 2.42, NFI: 0.92, PNFI: 0.83, CFI: 0.95, IFI: 0.95, RFI: 0.91, SRMR: 0.074). The Cronbach's alpha of the scale was 0.947, its intra-class correlation coefficient was 0.944, the Half-fold consistency coefficient was 0.970 and Omega internal consistency coefficient was 0.96. The NHRPS has good psychometric properties. This scale is suitable for research purposes, especially to plan for nurses' health promotion.

Effectiveness of a guided internet-based intervention for procrastination among university students - A randomized controlled trial study protocol

Procrastination is a widespread problem that is highly prevalent among the young adult population and is associated with several negative consequences. However, current evidence on the effectiveness of e-health interventions for procrastination either lack a comparison to an inactive control, do not include a student population or are of poor quality. This protocol describes the design of a trial that will overcome these limitations and examine the effectiveness of a guided internet-based intervention (GetStarted) to reduce problematic procrastinating behaviors in college students compared to a waitlist control. This study will be a two-armed randomized controlled trial with a calculated sample size of N = 176. Participants will be students from seven universities in the Netherlands. The intervention group will receive a four-week e-coach-guided intervention for procrastination. The waitlist control group will get access to treatment four weeks after randomization. Assessments will take place at baseline, post-test (4 weeks post-baseline) and follow-up (6 months post-baseline). Data will be analyzed with an intent-to-treat principle. The primary outcome is change in procrastination behaviors measured on the Irrational Procrastination scale (IPS). Secondary outcomes are depression, anxiety, stress, and quality of life. Additionally, sociodemographic characteristics of the participants, satisfaction with treatment, program usability, satisfaction with e-coach and treatment adherence will be examined as potential moderators. The results from this study can build evidence for the effectiveness of a guided internet-based intervention for treating procrastination in college students. Should it be effective, GetStarted could provide a flexible, low-intense and cost-effective treatment for procrastination and prevent common mental health problems in college students.

Trial registration

This trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov Protocol Registration and Results System (Trial number: NCT05478096).

Effects of academic self-regulation on procrastination, academic stress and anxiety, resilience and academic performance in a sample of Spanish secondary school students

Introduction

One of the biggest challenges facing students today is procrastination, which is closely related to stress, anxiety and, in the most severe cases, depression. The aim of the present study is to analyze the influence of academic self-regulation on procrastination, academic anxiety and stress, academic resilience and academic performance.

Method

The sample consisted of 991 high school students aged between 16 and 19 years (M = 17.25; SD = 3.45). A structural equation model was used to analyze the relationship between the study variables.

Results

Analyzes showed that academic self-regulation negatively predicted procrastination. In turn, procrastination positively predicted academic stress and anxiety. However, resilience exerted a protective influence by being positively related to academic stress and anxiety. Finally, resilience positively predicted academic performance, whereas stress and anxiety negatively predicted academic performance.

Conclusion

Thus, the importance of generating strategies for students to learn to self-regulate in academic contexts, manage emotions, foster motivation and develop strategies to help them overcome the vicissitudes they face is emphasized.

Associations Between Severity of Depression, Lifestyle Patterns, and Personal Factors Related to Health Behavior: Secondary Data Analysis From a Randomized Controlled Trial

Background

Depression is a prevalent condition that has a significant impact on psychosocial functioning and quality of life. The onset and persistence of depression have been linked to a variety of biological and psychosocial variables. Many of these variables are associated with specific lifestyle characteristics, such as physical activity, diet, and sleep patterns. Some psychosocial determinants have an impact on people’ health-related behavior change. These include personal factors such as sense of coherence, patient activation, health literacy, self-efficacy, and procrastination. This study aims to analyze the association between the severity of depression, lifestyle patterns, and personal factors related to health behavior. It also aims to analyze whether personal factors moderate the relationship between lifestyles and depression.

Methods

This study is a secondary data analysis (SDA) of baseline data collected at the start of a randomized controlled trial (RCT). A sample of 226 patients with subclinical, mild, or moderate depression from primary healthcare centers in two sites in Spain (Zaragoza and Mallorca) was used, and descriptive, bivariate, multivariate, and moderation analyses were performed. Depression was the primary outcome, measured by Beck II Self-Applied Depression Inventory. Lifestyle variables such as physical exercise, adherence to Mediterranean diet and sleep quality, social support, and personal factors such as self-efficacy, patient activation in their own health, sense of coherence, health literacy, and procrastination were considered secondary outcomes.

Results

Low sense of coherence (β = −0.172; p < 0.001), poor sleep quality (β = 0.179; p = 0.008), low patient activation (β = −0.119; p = 0.019), and sedentarism (more minutes seated per day; β = 0.003; p = 0.025) are predictors of having more depressive symptoms. Moderation analyses were not significant.

Discussion

Lifestyle and personal factors are related to depressive symptomatology. Our findings reveal that sense of coherence, patient’s activation level, sedentarism, and sleep quality are associated with depression. Further research is needed regarding adherence to Mediterranean diet, minutes walking per week and the interrelationship between lifestyles, personal factors, and depression.

What Research Has Been Conducted on Procrastination? Evidence From a Systematical Bibliometric Analysis

Procrastination is generally perceived as a common behavioral tendency, and there are a growing number of literatures to discuss this complex phenomenon. To elucidate the overall perspective and keep abreast of emerging trends in procrastination research, this article presents a bibliometric analysis that investigates the panorama of overviews and intellectual structures of related research on procrastination. Using the Web of Science Database, we collected 1,635 articles published between 1990 and 2020 with a topic search on "procrastination" and created diverse research maps using CiteSpace and VOS viewer. Bibliometric analysis in our research consists of category distribution, keyword co-occurrence networks, main cluster analysis, betweenness centrality analysis, burst detection analysis, and structure variation analysis. We find that most research has focused on students' samples and has discussed the definition, classification, antecedents, consequences and interventions to procrastination, whereas procrastination in diverse contexts and groups remains to be investigated. Regarding the antecedents and consequences, research has mainly been about the relationship between procrastination and personality differences, such as the five-factor model, temperament, character, emotional intelligence, and impulsivity, but functions of external factors such as task characteristics and environmental conditions to procrastination have drawn scant attention. To identify the nature and characteristics of this behavior, randomized controlled trials are usually adopted in designing empirical research. However, the predominant use of self-reported data collection and for a certain point in time rather than longitudinal designs has limited the validation of some conclusions. Notably, there have been novel findings through burst detection analysis and structure variation analysis. Certain research themes have gained extraordinary attention in a short time period, have evolved progressively during the time span from 1990 to 2020, and involve the antecedents of procrastination in a temporal context, theoretical perspectives, research methods, and typical images of procrastinators. And emerging research themes that have been investigated include bedtime procrastination, failure of social media self-control, and clinical interventions. To our knowledge, this is almost the first time to conduct systematically bibliometric analysis on the topic of procrastination and findings can provide an in-depth view of the patterns and trends in procrastination research.

Psychometric Properties of the Chinese Irrational Procrastination Scale: Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance Across Gender

The present paper reports on the preliminary validation of a Chinese version of Steel's Irrational Procrastination Scale (IPS). To this end, the nine items of the IPS were translated into Chinese and data were collected from a sample of 2,361 mainland Chinese college students. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to examine the dimensional structure of the IPS, and multigroup CFA (MG CFA) was carried out to evaluate the measurement invariance across gender. Results revealed that the Chinese IPS had adequate internal consistency reliability, adhered to the one-factor structure, and exhibited strong or scalar invariance across the two gender subgroups, thereby providing support for the internal construct validity of the scale. Additionally, the IPS scores were found to be strongly and negatively related to the Conscientiousness personality trait while showing weak correlations with the other traits, which provided some support for the convergent and divergent validity of the Chinese IPS. Study limitations and future research directions (e.g., expanding the empirical evidence for the scale's criterion-related validity) are discussed.

Pure Procrastination Scale e Irrational Procrastination Scale: Validation of a Brazilian Version

Abstract This study aimed to adapt and validate the Irrational Procrastination Scale (IPS) and Pure Procrastination Scale (PPS) for Brazilian Portuguese. Therefore, 2666 university students were invited to participate in the study (M = 26.08; SD = 6.6; 77% female). The factorial structures were analyzed through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The validity was investigated through Pearson’s correlations between the subscales of the Academic Procrastination Questionnaire ─ Negative Consequences and DASS-21. The reliability of the scales and their factors were evaluated through Cronbach’s alpha. The results indicated a one-dimensional IPS structure and a three-factor solution with a higher-order factor for PPS. Significant correlations were found between the IPS and PPS with the other measurements, revealing concurrent and convergent validity for both scales. The instruments showed good internal consistency, with alphas ranging from 0.80 to 0.91.

A Rasch Analysis of the Irrational Procrastination Scale (IPS)

The present study analyses the psychometric properties of the irrational procrastination scale (IPS; Steel, 2002, 2010) in a sample of United States college students using the Rasch modeling approach. Results showed that the IPS items had a high level of reliability, good content validity, structural validity, and substantive validity, and no differential item functioning (DIF) effects in terms of gender. The IPS was found to be unidimensional, supporting the originally proposed theoretical structure by Steel (2002, 2010). Finally, psychometric implications derived from the results and study limitations are discussed; recommendations for future investigations are also offered.

Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a lifestyle modification programme in the prevention and treatment of subclinical, mild and moderate depression in primary care: a randomised clinical trial protocol

INTRODUCTION

Major depression is a highly prevalent pathology that is currently the second most common cause of disease-induced disability in our society. The onset and continuation of depression may be related to a wide variety of biological and psychosocial factors, many of which are linked to different lifestyle aspects. Therefore, health systems must design and implement health promotion and lifestyle modification programmes (LMPs), taking into account personal factors and facilitators. The main objective of this protocol is to analyse the clinical effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and cost utility of an LMP and an LMP with information and communication technologies (ICTs) as adjunctive treatment for depression in primary care patients. The secondary objectives are to analyse the clinical effectiveness in the subgroup that presents comorbidity and to analyse the correlation between personal factors on health behaviour and lifestyle patterns.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

A randomised, multicenter pragmatic clinical trial with three parallel groups consisting of primary healthcare patients suffering from subclinical, mild or moderate depression. The following interventions will be used: (1) Usual antidepressant treatment with psychological advice and/or psychotropic drugs prescribed by the general practitioner (treatment as usual (TAU)). (2) TAU+LMP. A programme to be imparted in six weekly 90-minute group sessions, intended to improve the following aspects: behavioural activation+daily physical activity+adherence to the Mediterranean diet pattern+sleep hygiene+careful exposure to sunlight. (3) TAU+LMP+ICTs: healthy lifestyle recommendations (TAU+LMP)+monitoring using ICTs (a wearable smartwatch). The primary outcome will be the depressive symptomatology and the secondary outcomes will be the quality of life, the use of health and social resources, personal factors on health behaviour, social support, lifestyle patterns and chronic comorbid pathology. Data will be collected before and after the intervention, with 6-month and 12-month follow-ups.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

This study has been approved by the Clinical Research Ethics Committee of Aragón (approval number: C.P.-C.I. PI18/286) and the Research Ethics Committee of the Balearic Islands (IB3950/19 PI). Data distribution will be anonymous. Results will be disseminated via conferences and papers published in peer-reviewed, open-access journals.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

ClinicalTrials.gov Registry (NCT03951350).