Psychological maltreatment, adverse childhood experiences on college students’ academic procrastination: exploring the role of adult attachment and resilience

Academic procrastination is prevalent in college students, severely impacting their academic achievement, personal growth, and psychological well-being. However, few studies have explored the impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on college students’ academic procrastination and the relationship between adult attachment and resilience in this process. The present study aimed to reveal the potential mechanisms of action between ACEs and academic procrastination. Participants were recruited from three universities in Northeast China using convenience sampling, and 928 valid questionnaires were collected. The average age of the sample was 19.456 (SD = 1.079), 45.366% were female and 46.983% had experienced at least one ACEs. ACEs are significantly positively correlated with academic procrastination. Furthermore, each of adult attachment and resilience mediates the association between ACEs and academic procrastination. Furthermore, adult attachment and resilience play a chain mediating role in the relationship; adult attachment is negatively associated with resilience. These findings provide new insights into the psychological mechanisms of academic procrastination and suggest ways to design targeted prevention strategies and interventions.