Prevalence of Academic Procrastination and Its Association with Metacognitive Beliefs in Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Iran

Background & Objective: Procrastination is defined as the tendency to avoid and postpone timely activities. Academic procrastination is the most common form of this issue, which is a dominant, frequent tendency among learners to delay educational activities.The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of academic procrastination and its association with metacognitive beliefs in Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Materials and Methods: This descriptive-correlational study was conducted on the students at Zanjan University of Medical Sciences during 2015-2016 (n=3,500). In total, 210 students were selected randomly. Data collection tools were the Academic Procrastination Scale Solomon and Ruth Bloom (1984) and metacognitive beliefs about procrastination questionnaire (MCPQ). Data collection was performed in accordance with ethical principles. Results: Prevalence of academic procrastination was 63% among the students. In addition, regression analysis indicated that 5% of the variances on academic procrastination was explained by cognitive beliefs (R2=0.047). Positive metacognitive beliefs by a factor of B=0.445 (P=0.022) and negative metacognitive beliefs by a factor of B=0.409 (P=0.009) were the predictors of academic procrastination. Conclusion: According to the results, about 63% of the students faced the challenge of procrastination in their academic fields, and 5% of the variances relating to academic procrastination could be explained by cognitive beliefs.