How to Help Students Overcome Academic Procrastination

NCT05730101 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 024-22-01; ub23Heimgartner
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 115
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to evaluate two different treatment methods in a sample of procrastinating students of the University of Basel and the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland. As first treatment, a cognitive-behavioral treatment has been chosen as these type of treatment already showed promising results in reducing students' procrastination behavior. The alternative to the more time-intensive cognitive-behavioral treatment is the application of imaginary pills to students suffering from procrastination. This study evaluates the potential of the cognitive-behavioral and the imaginary pill treatment to reduce procrastination in a three-arm randomized controlled trial with parallel group between-subject design.

Conditions

Procrastination

Keywords

Academic procrastination; imaginary pill treatment; cognitive-behavioral treatment

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Change in German version of the Irrational Procrastination Scale (IPS)

  Assessment of academic procrastination level: The IPS measures the degree of irrational delay causing procrastination. The German version of the IPS consists of nine questions, e.g. "I put things off so long that my well-being or efficiency unnecessarily suffers". Participants can respond on a 5-point scale ranging from 1="never" to 5="always/constantly".

  At baseline (t0 = week 1), week 9 (t1), week 16 (t2), and week 42 (t4)

• Change in Academic Procrastination State Inventory (APSI)

  Assessment of academic procrastination level: The APSI consists of 23 item, all referring to fluctuations in academic procrastination, behavior and thoughts and participants have to rate the frequency of engaging in the items in the previous week on a five point Likert scale ranging from 1="never" to 5="always".

  At baseline (t0 = week 1), week 9 (t1), week 16 (t2), and week 42 (t4)

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• Change in Patient HealthQuestionnaire (PHQ-9)

  At baseline (t0 = week 1), week 9 (t1), week 16 (t2), and week 42 (t4)

• Change in Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire-7 (GAD-7)

  At baseline (t0 = week 1), week 9 (t1), week 16 (t2), and week 42 (t4)

• Change in World Health Organization (WHO) Well-Being Index (WHO-5)

  At baseline (t0 = week 1), week 9 (t1), week 16 (t2), and week 42 (t4)

• Change in the German version of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10)

  At baseline (t0 = week 1), week 9 (t1), week 16 (t2), and week 42 (t4)

Study Arms (3)

No treatment waitlist group

NO INTERVENTION

Participants receive neither cognitive-behavioral nor imaginary pill treatment and are told that they are in the no treatment waitlist group. They are told that they can receive one of the treatments at the end of the study. The treatment they receive will be chosen based on study results.

Cognitive-behavioral treatment group (CBT)

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Participants receive two individual and six group sessions with a therapist following the treatment manual "Prokrastination".

Other: Cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT)

Imaginary pill treatment group (IP)

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

In accordance with the imaginary pill technique, participants are instructed to take an imaginary pill. This instruction consists of a procedure including five steps (i.e., 1) identifying the IP sensitive problem, 2) building trust/belief/reality of the IP, 3) constructing a personally meaningful IP, 4) taking the IP, 5) suggestions for self-administering the IP in real life and building adherence. The session is repeated with small modifications seven weeks later.

Other: Imaginary pill treatment (IP)

Interventions

Cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT) OTHER

In the first individual session (CBT1), together with the therapist, participants develop a behavioral and conditional model of their procrastination behavior. In the next 2 group sessions (CBT2 and CBT3), participants receive psychoeducation on procrastination. The focus is on learning the method of starting on time. In the third group session (CBT4), participants identify key procrastination-promoting thoughts and are supported to develop alternative thoughts; deepened in the second individual session (CBT5). In the next 2 group sessions (CBT 6 and CBT7), participants are informed about action planning with focus on learning to plan realistically. The last group session is a concluding session: Experiences with the methods learned and an outlook on further steps and goals are discussed. At the end of both individual sessions (CBT1 and CBT5), participants receive a link to an online survey to rate their treatment expectations (treatment expectation 1 and 2).

Cognitive-behavioral treatment group (CBT)

Imaginary pill treatment (IP) OTHER

In the first session (IP1), participants will be asked about the nature of their procrastination behavior and receive a procedure to take an imaginary pill following a rationale of 5 steps. In the second IP session (IP2), experiences with taking the IP are discussed and the procedure of taking the IP is adapted according to previous experiences and current needs. The rationale of the second session encompasses the same five steps with small modifications: 1) discussing IP sensitive problem and adapting it if necessary, 2) building trust/belief/reality of the IP, 3) discussing the personally meaningful IP and adapting it if necessary, 4) taking the IP, 5) adapting the procedure for self-administering the IP in real life on daily basis if necessary and building adherence. At the end of both sessions, participants receive a link to an online survey to rate their treatment expectations (treatment expectation 1 and 2).

Imaginary pill treatment group (IP)

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 40 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Male and female Bachelor's and Master's students of the University of Basel and the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW)
• Age between 18 and 40
• Self-reported academic procrastination criterion is fulfilled (IPS value ≥ 29 points)
• Healthy by self-report statement (i.e., no known current physiological or psychological disorders, not taking medication, not in psychological/psychiatric treatment)
• Willing to participate in the study
• Sufficient German language skills to follow the instructions and participate in group sessions

You may not qualify if:

• Self-reported academic procrastination criteria not fulfilled: IPS \< 29
• Any current psychological or physiological disease
• Current psychological or psychiatric treatment
• Current intake of psychotropic medication
• Insufficient German language skills to understand the instructions or discuss in group sessions
• Daily consumption of more than three alcoholic standard beverages (a standard alcoholic beverage is defined as either 3dl beer or 1dl wine or 2cl spirits)
• Regular drug consumption (THC, cocaine, heroin, etc.)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland: lead

Study Sites (1)

University of Basel, Division of Clinical Psychologie and Psychotherapy, Faculty for Psychology

Basel, 4055, Switzerland

Location

MeSH Terms

Interventions

Therapeutics

Study Officials

• Nadja Heimgartner, lic. phil.

  University of Basel, Division of Clinical Psychologie and Psychotherapy, Faculty for Psychology

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Masking Details: Blinding of participants and treatment providers is not possible.
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: three-arm randomized controlled trial with parallel group between-subject design

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 27, 2023
• First Posted: February 15, 2023
• Study Start: January 31, 2023
• Primary Completion: December 22, 2024
• Study Completion: December 22, 2024
• Last Updated: April 29, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-04

Locations

CH (1)