Relationship between insecure attachment and procrastination in college students： path analysis of mindfulness and self-control

Abstract

BackgroundPrevention and intervention of procrastination in college students are of great practical significance， and studies have illustrated a pairwise correlation among mindfulness， self-control， insecure attachment and procrastination， whereas the mechanism by which insecure attachment leads to procrastination remains unclear， and the related mediation path is quite understudied.ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of insecure attachment on procrastination among college students and the pathway of mindfulness and self-control， so as to inform the design of interventions for procrastination among college students.MethodsRandom and cluster sampling method were utilized to enroll 514 college students from 4 colleges in Guangdong Province From February to April 2023. Subjects were assessed using Irrational Procrastination Scale （IPS）， Adult Attachment Scale （AAS）， Mindful Attention Awareness Scale （MAAS） and Brief Self-Control Scale （BSCS）. Pearson correlation analysis were adopted to identify the correlation among above scales， and the mediation effect was examined via Bootstrap procedure.ResultsAAS score was positively correlated with IPS score （r=0.382， P<0.01）， and negatively correlated with MAAS and BSCS scores （r=-0.242， -0.353， P<0.01）. IPS score was negatively correlated with MAAS and BSCS scores （r=-0.314， -0.682， P<0.01）. MAAS score was positively correlated with BSCS score （r=0.439， P<0.01）. Insecure attachment positively predicted procrastination （β=0.377， P<0.01）， and the prediction of procrastination by insecure attachment was mediated by self-control， with an indirect effect value of 0.163 （95% CI： 0.105~0.223）， accounting for 43.24% of the total effect value. The mindfulness and self-control exerted a chained mediation effect on the relationship between insecure attachment and procrastination， and the indirect effect value was 0.056 （95% CI： 0.028~0.089）， accounting for 14.85% of the total effect value.ConclusionInsecure attachment can influence procrastination among college students both directly and indirectly through the single mediation of self-control or the chained mediation of mindfulness and self-control. ［Funded by 2023 National College Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program （number， 202310570023）］

Keywords

• procrastination
• attachment
• mindfulness
• self-control
• college students
• chained mediation