Academic Procrastination, Depressive Symptoms and Suicidal Ideation in University Students: A look during the Pandemic

Objective: The aim is to determine the relationship between academic procrastination, depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation in students of the Faculty of Health Sciences. Method: It was a non-experimental and cross-sectional study of correlational scope. The non-probabilistic convenience sample, made up of 578 participants between 16 and 30 years old (69% female), completed the Academic Procrastination Scale, the Positive and Negative Suicidal Ideation Inventory (PANSI) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II). Frequencies and percentages were estimated at a descriptive level, the partial correlation coefficient and multiple linear regression were utilized to examine the associations between academic procrastination and suicidal ideation. Results: Subjects with a higher score of academic procrastination and BDI-II reported higher scores for suicidal ideation than those with a lower score (P < 0.01). A positive significant relationship was found between total academic procrastination and its subscales and suicidal ideation (P < 0.01). This correlation remained significant after controlling for depression (P < 0.05). Moreover, multiple linear regression revealed that academic procrastination, its subscales and depressive symptoms could explain about 20% of the total suicidal ideation in university students (R2 = 0.198). Conclusion: Increased levels of academic procrastination increase suicidal ideation in college students during the pandemic. These results suggest the need to create interventions for the prevention of this problem in the fields of educational and public health.