Catastrophizing, perfectionism and negative mood regulation expectancies as predictors of procrastination in a college student population

The current study looked at catastrophizing, perfectionism, and negative mood regulation (NMR) expectancies, which are people's beliefs about their ability to control their negative moods, as predictors of procrastination. Participants were 77 college students, who filled out questionnaire measures of catastrophizing, perfectionism, NMR expectancies and procrastination. Participants then solved tracing puzzles on a computer, a measure of persistence. Correlational and regression analyses showed a negative relationship between NMR expectancies and catastrophizing and worry. Contrary to hypotheses, perfectionism was not related to NMR expectancies. Consistent with previous research perfectionism was positively related to both catastrophizing and worry. Lower NMR expectancies were also related to more procrastination. No variables predicted persistence at problem-solving. Findings suggest that as one's NMR expectancies increase, the tendency to catastrophize and worry decreases. Lower NMR expectancies also related to procrastination, which may be seen as a type of avoidant coping. Results of the study argue for examining how interventions aimed at improving one's NMR expectancies can curtail the catastrophizing and procrastination process.