The Effect of Self-Compassion Writing Exercises on Procrastination in College Students with ADHD

<p dir="ltr">Procrastination is a widespread behavior that has been associated with worse academic (Kim & Seo, 2015) and mental health outcomes (Sirois & Tosti, 2012). Procrastination may be more concerning among students with ADHD, who are already at increased risk of adversity in these areas (Weyandt et al., 2013; Kessler et al., 2006). The present study investigated the effect of self-compassion writing on academic procrastination in college students with ADHD. Participants were randomly assigned to complete either self-compassion (experimental) or control writing exercises, then reported their procrastination for four days. It was hypothesized that 1) participants in the experimental group would procrastinate less than the control group, 2) self-criticism and self-efficacy for self-regulation of procrastination (SERP) would mediate this effect, and 3) participants in the experimental group would be less self-critical after procrastinating. Analyses revealed that participants who completed self-compassion exercises procrastinated significantly less than the control group. Neither self-criticism nor SERP mediated this relationship, and there were no significant differences in self-criticism after procrastinating between groups.</p>