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Procrastination is particularly prevalent in the post-secondary student population, with prevalence rates ranging between 70-95%. Students have consistently cited motivation, or a lack thereof, as one of the main sources of their procrastination. One of the most prominent theories explaining motivation is self-determination theory (SDT). Despite the direct links between motivation and procrastination, procrastination has been scarcely examined through the lens of SDT. The current study examined the relationship between basic psychological need (BPN), satisfaction and frustration, academic motivation, and academic procrastination. A sample of 617 undergraduate students completed an online questionnaire about their university experience. Data were analyzed using mediational structural equation models. Results suggested that academic motivation significantly mediated the relationship between BPN satisfaction and procrastination, but not the relationship between BPN frustration and procrastination. These results demonstrate the importance of satisfying the BPN of undergraduate students, as it may increase their academic motivation and, subsequently, reduce their procrastination.

Recent research has shown that undergraduate students who experience both clinical and subclinical attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) struggle academically. Furthermore, these students have cited academic amotivation as a factor in their academic difficulties. Self-determination theory (SDT) posits that a lack of motivation--known as amotivation--may be the result of the frustration of the basic psychological needs--autonomy, competence, and relatedness. For this reason, the current study examined whether basic psychological need frustration mediated the relationship between ADHD symptomatology and academic amotivation. A sample of undergraduate students completed an online questionnaire about their university experience. Data were analyzed using a mediational structural equation model. Results suggested significant relationships between all of the variables. Moreover, basic psychological need frustration fully mediated the relationship between ADHD symptomatology and academic amotivation. These results demonstrate the importance of fulfilling the basic psychological needs of undergraduate students experiencing ADHD symptomatology, as it may increase their academic motivation, and, subsequently, reduce their academic difficulties.

Although studied extensively in the field of adolescent mental health, the role of emotion regulation (ER) in the academic functioning of adolescents is not well understood. This study examined the role of ER in adolescents' perceptions of themselves and their learning environments. We compared adolescents with high and low levels of ER on perceptions of school achievement and attitudes towards school and their perception of their parents' academic involvement. Students completed surveys about perceptions of their learning and parental involvement, as well as their ER abilities. Results indicated that students with higher emotion dysregulation endorsed more negative self-perceptions of their own academic abilities, had more negative attitudes towards school, and rated their mothers and fathers as more controlling in relation to their learning. These results demonstrate the importance of ER in the academic context, particularly in the home learning environment.