The relationship between attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder subtypes and academic procrastination behavior in healthy adults: the role of executive functions and emotion regulation difficulties

Studies aiming to examine the variables explaining the relationship between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) tendencies and academic procrastination in healthy adults are limited in number. In this study, the simultaneous (parallel) mediating effects of emotion regulation difficulties and executive functions in the relationship between ADHD subtype tendencies and academic procrastination in healthy adults without a known neurological or psychiatric diagnosis was examined. The study involved 223 university students aged 18 to 35. Participants completed the "Current Symptoms Scale (CSS)" for ADHD characteristics, the "Academic Procrastination Scale (APS)" for procrastination behaviors, the "Executive Functions Scale (EFS)" for executive functions, and the "Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-Short Form (DERS-16)" for emotion regulation difficulties. Sociodemographic factors were analyzed for their relationship with research variables, and partial correlation was used to control for age and gender effects on CSS sub-dimensions. "Parallel Mediation Analyses" were conducted to test the simultaneous mediating effects of executive functions and emotion regulation difficulties between ADHD subtypes and academic procrastination. As a result of the study, it was found that males had higher CSS-hyperactivity-impulsive (6.77±3.91) and academic procrastination (53.86±13.66) scores (p<0.05). Parallel mediation results: executive functions and emotion regulation difficulties partially mediate the relationship between CSS-attention deficit and composite subtypes and academic procrastination behavior; It has been shown that it fully mediates the relationship between CSS-hyperactivity-impulsive sub-dimension and academic procrastination behavior. (p<0.05). These findings highlight the importance of emotion regulation and executive functions in understanding academic procrastination in young adults with ADHD symptoms.