Academic procrastination of nursing students in higher vocational college: Application of latent profile analysis and network analysis

Background: Academic procrastination is especially prevalent among nursing students in higher vocational colleges and it is considered an important factor of poor academic performance. However, existing research mainly focused on the overall level of academic procrastination, and little is known about the individual heterogeneity of academic procrastination among nursing students in higher vocational colleges. Thus, the aim of this study was to clarify the subgroups and factors of academic procrastination among nursing students in higher vocational college and explore academic procrastination networks of the latent subgroups. Methods: A cross-sectional study with online survey. 1369 nursing students in one higher vocational college were recruited using convenience sampling. Participants completed electronic questionnaires that collected demographic and academic characteristics, perceived stress, and academic procrastination. Latent profile analysis, multinomial logistic regression analysis, and network analysis were performed to analyze the data. Results: Three latent profiles of academic procrastination were identified: low (32.4 %), medium (53.3 %), and high (14.3 %). Higher vocational college nursing students who have reset an exam, low professional identity, and perceived more stress are more likely to have higher academic procrastination than other profiles. Network analysis showed that academic procrastination networks structure of the three latent profiles had distinct central components. For the low academic procrastination group, AP11 ("I make study plans, but I often fail to stick to them") and AP12 ("If there is no external pressure, I tend to postpone assignments or reports with deadlines") were the core components. For the medium academic procrastination group, AP17 ("I always wait until I can't postpone my academic tasks any longer before starting them") and AP16 ("I always tend to postpone on assignments or other academic tasks") were the central components. For the high academic procrastination group, AP16 and AP7 ("When studying in my dorm room, I often stop to do other things") were the essential components. Conclusions: There is heterogeneity in higher vocational college nursing students' academic procrastination that can be classified into three latent profiles. The examined factors of academic procrastination and identified the central components of academic procrastination networks of the three latent profiles help nurse educators tailor targeted interventions.