Procrastination, depression and anxiety symptoms in university students: a three-wave longitudinal study on the mediating role of perceived stress.

BACKGROUND: It is generally assumed that procrastination leads to negative consequences. However, evidence for negative consequences of procrastination is still limited and it is also unclear by which mechanisms they are mediated. Therefore, the aim of our study was to examine the harmful consequences of procrastination on students' stress and mental health. We selected the procrastination-health model as our theoretical foundation and tried to evaluate the model's assumption that trait procrastination leads to (chronic) disease via (chronic) stress in a temporal perspective. We chose depression and anxiety symptoms as indicators for (chronic) disease and hypothesized that procrastination leads to perceived stress over time, that perceived stress leads to depression and anxiety symptoms over time, and that procrastination leads to depression and anxiety symptoms over time, mediated by perceived stress. METHODS: To examine these relationships properly, we collected longitudinal data from 392 university students at three occasions over a one-year period and analyzed the data using autoregressive time-lagged panel models. RESULTS: Procrastination did lead to depression and anxiety symptoms over time. However, perceived stress was not a mediator of this effect. Procrastination did not lead to perceived stress over time, nor did perceived stress lead to depression and anxiety symptoms over time. CONCLUSIONS: We could not confirm that trait procrastination leads to (chronic) disease via (chronic) stress, as assumed in the procrastination-health model. Nonetheless, our study demonstrated that procrastination can have a detrimental effect on mental health. Further health outcomes and possible mediators should be explored in future studies.

[The Role of Specific Study-Related Demands and Resources to Student Health and Life Satisfaction]. / Die Bedeutung spezifischer studienbedingter Anforderungen und Ressourcen für die Gesundheit und Lebenszufriedenheit von Studierenden.

BACKGROUND: Studies report an association between study conditions and student health outcomes. The aim was to investigate the influence of specific study-related demands and resources on self-assessed health. METHOD: Students of the Technical University of Dresden were surveyed online about their health and their studies. Referring to the Study Demands-Resources Model descriptive and regression analytic methods were applied. RESULTS: 1,312 students were included in the analyses. About one-fifth of participants reported low life satisfaction and high exhaustion. Time and cognitive demands were associated with poorer health, social support and time margin in studies were linked to better health. This relationship was particularly evident with a combination of high demands and low resources. CONCLUSION: The results provide approaches for preventive measures to strengthen the health of students.

Finding the Right Balance: A Social Norms Intervention to Reduce Heavy Drinking in University Students.

Introduction: Heavy alcohol consumption constitutes a major health risk among University students. Social relationships with peers strongly affect University students' perception of the drinking behavior of others, which in turn plays a crucial role in determining their own alcohol intake. University students tend to overestimate their peers' alcohol consumption - a belief that is associated with an increase in an individual's own consumption. Therefore, we implemented a social norms intervention with personalized normative feedback at a major University in Germany to reduce and prevent excessive drinking among University students. Methods: Our intervention was part of a regular health monitoring survey. We invited all enrolled University students to take part in this survey on two occasions. A total of 862 University students completed the questionnaire, 563 (65.3%) of which received e-mail-based feedback upon request concerning their peers' and their own alcohol consumption. For the intervention group (n = 190) as well as the control group (no feedback requested; n = 101), we included only University students in the evaluation who overestimated their peers' alcohol use and indicated above average consumption of the peers. We applied analyses of variance to assess intervention effects with regard to the correction of overestimated group norms as well as University students' drinking behavior. Results: Within the intervention group, we observed a significantly larger reduction of the previously overestimated behavioral norms compared to the control group (p < 0.001; ηp2 = 0.06). With regard to behavioral outcomes the intervention group showed a significantly larger reduction in the AUDIT-C score (p = 0.020; ηp2 = 0.03). Discussion: Our study confirms previous research whereupon personalized, gender-specific and selective normative feedback is effective for alcohol prevention among University students. However, University students still overestimated their peers' alcohol intake after the intervention. Furthermore, we did not reach high-risk groups (University students with the highest alcohol intake) since no feedback was requested. Future studies should address factors influencing the impact of the intervention and reachability of selective groups.

Time Pressure and Health-Related Loss of Productivity in University Students: The Mediating Role of Exhaustion.

Introduction: Being present at work when sick is not just prevalent in employees. Since university is also a demanding context, there is a growing interest in this phenomenon in university students. Especially students with mental health issues show a higher degree of productivity loss. However, little research has examined the causes of these productivity losses-especially in university students. Therefore, we examined health-related (burnout) and non-health-related (time pressure) aspects that lead to productivity losses in the long run. Methods: We decided to examine the effect from time pressure on health-related loss of productivity, mediated by exhaustion. This assumption is in line with the health impairment process proposed by the Study Demands-Resources (SD-R) framework. To examine this assumption properly, we conducted a longitudinal study with three occasions. We surveyed 392 students in three waves over 1 year and performed structural equation modeling (SEM) to confirm the assumptions longitudinally. Results: In line with our assumptions, time pressure predicted burnout which, in turn, predicted health-related loss of productivity in the long run. Hence-as assumed by the SD-R framework-burnout serves as a mediator between study demands and negative outcomes such as loss of productivity. Discussion: Our study is the first that uncovers health-related and non-health-related causes of health-related productivity loss in university students. Thus, we were able to confirm SD-R's health impairment process longitudinally. Since we know that time pressure serves as a major antecedent for burnout and health-related loss of productivity, we are well-advised to establish appropriate interventions to reduce students' time pressure.

The Study Demands-Resources Framework: An Empirical Introduction.

Based on the well-established job demands-resources (JD-R) framework, in our study we introduce the novel study demands-resources (SD-R) framework. The SD-R framework allows the study of salutogenic and pathogenic effects of university settings on students' health and well-being. Using a large sample of university students (n = 5660), our aim was to translate and validate the JD-R's essential assumptions within the university context, and thus establish the SD-R framework. We performed structural equation modelling to examine these essential assumptions. As assumed, we found that study demands-the "bad things" at university-predict student burnout (ß = 0.50), whereas study resources-the "good things" at university-predict student engagement (ß = 0.70) as well as burnout (ß = -0.35). Also, in line with the SD-R's assumptions, student burnout predicts life satisfaction negatively (ß = -0.34), whereas student engagement predicts life satisfaction positively (ß = 0.29). Hence, we were able to introduce the novel SD-R framework and validate its core assumptions. The SD-R framework serves as an excellent theoretical basis to examine both the salutogenic and pathogenic effects of the study context on students' health and well-being. However, the framework needs further longitudinal and meta-analytical verification in accordance with the research on the JD-R framework.