Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK.
Department of Psychology, Bradford University, Bradford BD7 1DP, UK.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2024 Jul 10;21(7):898. doi: 10.3390/ijerph21070898.
Evidence linking chronic procrastination to a range of poor health outcomes and trajectories continues to build. Yet, much of this research has been conducted in academic contexts or in non-student samples. Despite theory indicating that high-stress contexts increase vulnerability for procrastination, the pathways linking chronic procrastination to health outcomes proposed by the procrastination-health model have not been examined in a high stress environment. Accordingly, we tested the contribution of procrastination to health in nurses and whether social support was a protective factor. Pre-registered cross-sectional study using a random sample of nurses recruited from the membership of a regional nursing association, supplemented by nurses and nurse trainees recruited from online nursing associations, conferences and forums. Nurses and nurse trainees ( = 597) completed measures of chronic procrastination, stress, health behaviours, social support and self-rated health. Chronic procrastination was associated with perceived stress, health behaviours, self-rated health and social support in the expected directions. Consistent with the procrastination-health model, structural equation modelling revealed significant indirect effects linking chronic procrastination to poor self-rated health through higher stress and fewer health behaviours. Contrary to our hypotheses, social support did not moderate these pathways. This study is the first to demonstrate the relevance of procrastination for health in high-stress, non-academic contexts and to find support for both the stress and behavioural pathways linking procrastination to poor health outcomes. Findings further highlight the importance of addressing chronic procrastination as a vulnerability factor for poor health in nurses.
慢性拖延与一系列健康不良结果和轨迹的联系的证据不断增加。然而，这些研究大多是在学术环境中或非学生样本中进行的。尽管理论表明，高压力环境会增加拖延的脆弱性，但拖延健康模型所提出的将慢性拖延与健康结果联系起来的途径，尚未在高压力环境中进行检验。因此，我们测试了拖延对护士健康的影响，以及社会支持是否是一个保护因素。
这是一项使用从区域护理协会成员中随机抽取的护士样本的预先注册的横断面研究，同时补充了从在线护理协会、会议和论坛中抽取的护士和护理实习生样本。护士和护理实习生（n=597）完成了慢性拖延、压力、健康行为、社会支持和自我报告健康的测量。
慢性拖延与预期方向的感知压力、健康行为、自我报告健康和社会支持有关。与拖延健康模型一致，结构方程模型显示，慢性拖延通过更高的压力和更少的健康行为与较差的自我报告健康之间存在显著的间接联系。与我们的假设相反，社会支持并没有调节这些途径。
这项研究首次证明了拖延在高压力、非学术环境下对健康的相关性，并为拖延与健康不良结果之间的压力和行为途径提供了支持。研究结果进一步强调了在护士中，将慢性拖延作为一个脆弱因素来解决其对健康的影响的重要性。
