Anxiety, Depression, and Procrastination Among Students: Rumination Plays a Larger Mediating Role than Worry

Constantin, Kaytlin; English, Megan M.; Mazmanian, Dwight

doi:10.1007/s10942-017-0271-5

Published: 17 April 2017

Anxiety, Depression, and Procrastination Among Students: Rumination Plays a Larger Mediating Role than Worry

Kaytlin Constantin¹,
Megan M. English² &
Dwight Mazmanian³

Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy volume 36, pages 15–27 (2018)Cite this article

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Abstract

Procrastination is prevalent among students and is associated with negative outcomes, including poor academic performance and psychological distress. Research also suggests that anxiety and depression can exacerbate procrastination; however, the mechanisms associated with the development of procrastination are less understood. The current study aimed to clarify the role of negative repetitive thought (i.e., rumination and worry) in the links between anxiety and procrastination, and depression and procrastination. Ninety-one undergraduate students completed self-report measures of anxiety, depression, worry, brooding rumination, and procrastination, and two multiple mediator models were tested. Procrastination was positively correlated with the study variables, including medium effects for anxiety and depression, a large effect for rumination, and a small effect for worry. Rumination independently mediated the relationships between anxiety and procrastination, and depression and procrastination. Worry did not independently mediate these relationships. The current findings suggest rumination plays a larger role in the links between anxiety, depression, and procrastination than worry. Thus, students with higher levels of anxiety and depression engage in more negative repetitive thought, which may contribute to procrastinatory behavior as a result of a preoccupation with depressing or painful thoughts about the past.

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Acknowledgements

Megan M. English was supported by a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship while conducting this research. Kaytlin Constantin is supported by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Graduate Scholarship and the Ontario Graduate Scholarship. These funding sources had no involvement in the study design, data collection, analysis or interpretation of data, writing the manuscript, and the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. We thank Bradey Alcock and Kirsti Toivonen for their assistance with data collection. Megan M. English gratefully acknowledges funding by the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships program. Kaytlin Constantin gratefully acknowledges funding by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Graduate Scholarships—Master’s Program and the Ontario Graduate Scholarship program.

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Department of Psychology, University of Guelph, 87 Trent Lane, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada
Kaytlin Constantin
Eastern Health, Medicine Program, Health Sciences Centre, 300 Prince Phillip Drive, St. John’s, NL, A1B 3V6, Canada
Megan M. English
Department of Psychology, Lakehead University, 955 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, ON, P7B 5E1, Canada
Dwight Mazmanian

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Kaytlin Constantin
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Megan M. English
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Constantin, K., English, M.M. & Mazmanian, D. Anxiety, Depression, and Procrastination Among Students: Rumination Plays a Larger Mediating Role than Worry. J Rat-Emo Cognitive-Behav Ther 36, 15–27 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-017-0271-5

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Published: 17 April 2017
Issue Date: March 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-017-0271-5

Keywords

Procrastination
Depression
Anxiety
Rumination
Worry
Negative repetitive thought