Open AccessThe relation between procrastination and symptoms of attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in undergraduate students
Author(s) -
Niermann Hannah C.M.,
Scheres Anouk
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
international journal of methods in psychiatric research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.275
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1557-0657
pISSN - 1049-8931
DOI - 10.1002/mpr.1440
Subject(s) - procrastination , impulsivity , psychology , attention deficit hyperactivity disorder , temptation , clinical psychology , developmental psychology , attention deficit , social psychology
Abstract Procrastination is defined as the tendency to delay activities that have to be completed before a deadline. It is often part of psychotherapies for adults with attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, procrastination is officially not acknowledged as an ADHD‐related symptom. Therefore, little is known about the role of procrastination in ADHD. We investigated the relation between procrastination and ADHD‐related symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity in 54 students with varying levels of self‐reported ADHD‐related behaviours. Various measures of procrastination were used, including questionnaires of academic, general procrastination and susceptibility to temptation as well as direct observation of academic procrastination while solving math problems. We expected a positive relation between severity of ADHD‐related behaviours and procrastination, specifically for impulsivity. However, partial correlations (corrected for the other symptom domain of ADHD) indicated that only inattention was correlated with general procrastination. This specific and preliminary finding can stimulate future research in individuals diagnosed with ADHD. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.