Exploring Different Types of Academic Procrastination in Adolescents: A Latent Profile Analysis

Academic procrastination is a significant problem commonly observed among students, leading to negative outcomes such as academic failure and school dropout. This study aimed to explore the different latent profiles of academic procrastination behavior in adolescents and examine the criteria for belonging to these profiles in relation to sociodemographic factors (gender and grade level). The data were collected from a sample of 381 adolescents [214 (56.1%) female, 167 (43.9%) males] attending high schools in Turkey. The participants were aged between 14 and 18. The data collection instruments included the Personal Information Form, Academic Self-Efficacy Scale, Trait Hope Scale, Academic Procrastination Scale, Self-Esteem Scale, and Career Anxiety Scale. All participants and their parents were informed about the purpose of the study, and written consent forms were obtained. In the study, the Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) was employed to identify the latent profiles, and multiple regression analysis was used to examine the relationships between latent profiles and sociodemographic variables. The Latent Profile Analysis revealed three latent profiles: “non-procrastinators (NP),” “moderate procrastinators (MP),” and “apathetic procrastinators (AP).” The criteria for belonging to these three profiles were found to be statistically insignificant according to sociodemographic variables (gender and grade level). These profiles provide new perspectives on interventions aimed at reducing academic procrastination behavior. Exploring students’ unique behavior patterns through these profiles can offer opportunities to prevent negative outcomes such as course failure, absenteeism, and school dropout. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2025.