Abstract
Introduction: Academic procrastination is a prevalent self-regulatory failure among university students, with adverse consequences for mental health and academic performance. This study examined the mediating role of experiential avoidance in the association between adaptive and maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies (CERS) and academic procrastination in female university students.
Methods: A descriptive-correlational design employing path analysis was used. The sample consisted of 214 female undergraduate and postgraduate students from universities in Isfahan, Iran, in 2024. Participants completed the Academic Procrastination Questionnaire (APQ), Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ), and Acceptance and Action Questionnaire–II (AAQ-II). Data were analyzed using structural equation modelling in AMOS 22.
Results: The hypothesized model demonstrated excellent fit (CFI=0.99, RMSEA=0.073). Adaptive CERS were directly associated with lower academic procrastination (β=−0.26, P<0.001) and indirectly associated with lower procrastination through reduced experiential avoidance (β=−0.12, P=0.002). Maladaptive CERS were directly associated with higher procrastination (β=0.18, P=0.014) and demonstrated an indirect association via increased experiential avoidance (β=0.21, P<0.001). Experiential avoidance itself was strongly associated with academic procrastination (β=0.37, P<0.001).
Conclusion: Experiential avoidance partially mediates the associations of both adaptive and maladaptive CERS with academic procrastination. Given the correlational nature of the data, interventions targeting experiential avoidance, such as those based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), may be associated with reduced procrastination in female university students.