The relationship between academic procrastination and anxiety symptoms among medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic: exploring the moderated mediation effects of resilience and social support.

Background: Medical students have experienced increased anxiety symptoms during the pandemic of COVID-19. However, there is a paucity of investigation on the effect of academic procrastination, and personal resources (such as social support and resilience) on anxiety symptoms among this population. Objective: The main objective of this research was to evaluate the link between academic procrastination and anxiety symptoms among medical students during the pandemic of COVID-19 and clarify how resilience and social support mediate or moderate the relations between academic procrastination and anxiety symptoms. Methods: With a cross-sectional stratified sampling, 595 participants completed a self-administered questionnaire to assess anxiety symptoms and associated factors. The study used the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item Scale (GAD-7 cutoff ≥ 10), the Academic Procrastination Scale (PASS), Connor Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC),and Perception Social Support Scale for measurements. Results: The results of the study showed that 26.4% (157/595) of medical students exhibited symptoms of anxiety. Regression analysis revealed an inverse relationship between resilience, social support, and anxiety symptoms (β = -0.058, P < 0.05). As revealed by the analysis results, the study found a total effect of 0.338, a direct effect of 0.270, and resilience exhibited a mediating effect of 0.068. The direct effect (0.270) accounted for 79.59% of the total effect (0.338), while the mediating effect (0.068) contributed to 20.12% of the total effect (0.338). This further supports the role of psychological resilience in mediating the link between academic procrastination and anxiety symptoms. Conclusion: The study implies that promoting resilience may be an effective intervention to lessen the detrimental consequences of academic procrastination on anxiety symptoms, and social support might provide a defense against the negative influence of academic procrastination on anxiety symptoms. Highlights: • The prevalence of anxiety symptoms among medical students in our study was high (26.4%). • Academic procrastination is positively associated with anxiety symptoms among medical students, and mediating effects of resilience and moderating effect of social support on the relationship of academic procrastination and anxiety symptoms were found. • Resilience and social support were found to play significant roles in mitigating the negative effects of procrastination on anxiety symptoms, suggesting that interventions targeting these factors may be effective in reducing anxiety among medical students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]