The role of passion for studies on academic procrastination and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic

Procrastination is a maladaptive behaviour that students often experience in academic activities and can result in negative consequences to mental health. The challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic can contribute to increase procrastination behaviors in academic activities that the student does not like and in those he/she is passionate. The main objective of this research was to test an integrative model of passion, procrastination, satisfaction with life and psychological distress in students during pandemic. The sample was comprised of 416 university students aged between 18 and 57 years (M(age) = 24.81 ± 7.02, 78.1% women). Structural Equation Modeling results revealed that academic procrastination is negatively linked to harmonious passion, and positively linked to obsessive passion. Academic procrastination in turn is negatively linked to satisfaction with life and positively linked to psychological distress. Harmonious passion also was directly positively associated to satisfaction with life and negatively associated to psychological distress. These results suggest that students’ harmonious passion for their studies plays a protective role against academic procrastination and mental health indicators, while obsessive passion represents a risk factor.