Academic Procrastination of Adolescents: A Brief Review of the Literature

Abstract

Procrastination is a common behavioral and psychological concern that refers to unnecessarily delaying tasks and experiencing negative results. Adolescent students are the ones especially prone to suffer from academic procrastination as they are in a unique stage of rapid development and growth. Previous research has demonstrated that adolescent academic procrastination is related to self-regulation, self-efficacy, motivation, perfectionism, and parenting. Moreover, the Internet, especially smartphones and online games, has presented new ways to procrastinate. Online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic has implications for academic procrastination as well. Therefore, the aim of this literature review is to synthesize studies on academic procrastination of teenagers and consider individual, family, and technology perspectives. Interventions, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT), treat procrastination, with common strategies targeting specific behaviors and emotions. To address some limitations, future research should expand to Eastern contexts, construct reliable measures, address distance learning, and develop alternative treatment approaches. This line of research would help teachers and parents support adolescent students in reducing their urges to procrastinate and developing good learning habits to lay a foundation for future studies and work.