Parental Marital Conflict and Adolescent Academic Procrastination: Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia Reactivity Matters

The present study examined the association between parental marital conflict and adolescent academic procrastination, and the moderating role of baseline and reactive respiratory sinus arrhythmia. Participants included 346 Chinese middle school students (Mage = 12.50 years, SD = 0.62; 45.10% girls). Physiological data were captured to reflect participants’ respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) levels. Parental marital conflict and adolescent academic procrastination were assessed through adolescent reports. Results revealed that parental marital conflict and adolescents’ RSA reactivity were interactively related to academic procrastination. Specifically, the positive association between parental marital conflict and academic procrastination was stronger among adolescents with lower (not higher) RSA reactivity. However, baseline RSA did not moderate the relation between marital conflict and academic procrastination. Findings highlight the buffering role of RSA reactivity in the association between parental marital conflict and adolescent academic procrastination.