Impact of Maladaptive Daydreaming Academic Procrastination and Psychological Distress: Moderating Role of Emotion Regulation

Abstract

The aim of this present study was to explore the relationship of maladaptive daydreaming with psychological distress and academic procrastination, along with the possible moderating role of emotion regulation in this relationship among students of university. A total of 300 undergraduate students with an equal number of male and female participants (n= 150) were chosen from various universities. Data were collected after obtaining consent from higher authorities on the basis of the following three scales that were used: the 16-item Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale (MDS-16), the 16-item Tuckman Procrastination Scale (1991), the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10), and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire Short Form. The statistical data analysis was also performed with descriptive and inferential statistics like linear regression and Pearson correlation in SPSS (21). The process macro Model 1 by Hayes was done for moderation analysis. The results of the moderation analysis demonstrated that emotional regulation was a significant moderator between maladaptive daydreaming and academic procrastination. For Hypothesis 4 the relations of maladaptive daydreaming with psychological distress were not statistically significant.