A longitudinal analysis of the reciprocal relationship between academic procrastination, study satisfaction, and dropout intentions in higher education

Abstract

Student dropout is a multi-causal process. Different theoretical models on student dropout consider dysfunctional study behavior (e.g., academic procrastination) and low study satisfaction as possible determinants of students’ dropout intentions during their university studies. However, these models neglect contemporary conceptualizations that assume reverse relationships between dropout intentions and other determinants of the dropout process. Until now, empirical evidence on these assumptions is scant. The present three-wave longitudinal study explored the reciprocal relationships between academic procrastination, study satisfaction, and dropout intentions over one semester. To this end, we used data of N = 326 undergraduate students enrolled in mathematics and law. Our latent cross-lagged panel model replicated existing empirical cross-sectional findings between the variables (i.e., academic procrastination, study satisfaction, and dropout intentions). Regarding the longitudinal relations, as expected, the cross-lagged effects showed that higher dropout intentions significantly related to subsequent higher academic procrastination and lower study satisfaction. Unexpectedly, academic procrastination did not significantly relate to subsequent dropout intentions. Additionally, higher study satisfaction significantly associated with subsequent higher dropout intentions—possibly due to unfulfilled expectations. Further, higher study satisfaction significantly related to subsequent higher procrastination—possibly due to more confidence among satisfied students. Our results broaden the view on dropout intentions as part of the dynamic interplay of student dropout determinants and the need to refine dropout models’ assumptions accordingly. Practically, realistic expectations seem important to reduce dropout intentions. Further, student counselors should have a closer look at the reasons for academic procrastination to develop individual solutions for this dysfunctional behavior.

Study satisfaction among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic: Longitudinal development and personal-contextual predictors

“…Furthermore, academic procrastination and loneliness appeared to consistently negatively relate to S-Content in both studies. The finding for academic procrastination is in line with Scheunemann et al (2021) who found a negative relationship between academic procrastination and 10. 3389/fpsyg.2022.918367 overall study satisfaction at each measurement point.…”

“…On a descriptive level, a few findings indicated a slight linear increase in overall study satisfaction over a period of 4 months ( Ng and Ye, 2016 ) and 6 months ( Allan et al, 2020 ) without considering the subdimensions. Contrary, Scheunemann et al (2021) found a decrease in overall study satisfaction over one semester. Currently, during the COVID-19 pandemic, decreases in study satisfaction are conceivable as students are exposed to several pandemic-related challenges ( Sahu, 2020 ).…”

“…The multiple imputation approach has been shown to reduce wastefulness of data and biased results compared to the use of complete cases (Asendorpf et al, 2014;van Ginkel et al, 2020). We followed the guidelines of Geiser (2021) and implemented multiple imputation with Mplus 8.7 software Muthén, 1998, 2017).…”

Procrastination Among University Students: Differentiating Severe Cases in Need of Support From Less Severe Cases

“…This type of psychoeducation can often have a normalizing effect, reducing shame and stigma, and, in turn, motivate behavior change. Similarly, career counselors might use the PDC in relation to discussing study satisfaction and dropout intentions in order to prevent students ending their studies prematurely ( Scheunemann et al, 2021 ).…”

Approaching Academic Adjustment on Multiple Time Scales

“…Large panel studies such as the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS; Blossfeld & Roßbach, 2019) or the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP; Goebel et al, 2019) often spanning several years of assessment are excellently suited to capture long-term changes in adaptation processes and to illuminate consequences of better or worse socioemotional adjustment for outcomes such as educational attainment. In these studies, participants are typically asked about global retrospective assessments of, for instance, their study satisfaction and drop-out intentions (e.g., Scheunemann et al, 2021), or the extent to which they feel they belong to their educational setting (e.g., Menkor et al, 2021).…”