Physical Activity and Academic Procrastination among Chinese University Students: A Parallel Mediation Model of...

Previous studies have suggested that physical activity may decrease academic procrastination; however, few studies have explored the underlying mechanisms of how physical activity exerts an effect on academic procrastination. This study aimed to examine the mediating effects of self-control and self-efficacy in the relationship between physical activity and academic procrastination among Chinese university students.

A cross-sectional design was used in this study. The sample comprised 564 university students from a university in Zhejiang, China. The physical activity rating scale-3 (PARS-3), self-control scale (SCS), generalized self-efficacy scale (GSES), and procrastination assessment scale-students (PASS) were used to investigate university students' physical activity, self-control, self-efficacy, and academic procrastination respectively. The Percentile-Bootstrap technique was performed to examine the mediating effects of self-control and self-efficacy on the association between physical activity and academic procrastination.

Physical activity significantly predicted higher levels of self-control and self-efficacy, as well as lower levels of academic procrastination. Self-control and self-efficacy were significant mediators between physical activity and academic procrastination.

This study indicated that physical activity interventions targeting the improvement of self-control and self-efficacy may reduce academic procrastination in university students.