Correlation between Overthinking and Procrastination Behavior Among Nurses

Апстракт

Context: A key challenge in understanding internalizing psychological disorders is identifying the cognitive processes that sustain distress and disrupt effective functioning. Recurrent, hard-to-interrupt thinking patterns may interfere with individuals’ ability to initiate and complete intended tasks. Concurrently, individuals may persistently delay necessary actions despite recognizing their negative consequences, indicating a breakdown between intention and behavior. This pattern of delay appears to be associated with seeking short-term emotional relief, reduced consideration of future outcomes, and avoidance of prolonged effort. While these issues have been studied independently, their overlapping mechanisms require further investigation. The potential role of repetitive cognitive processes in maintaining procrastination remains underexplored, suggesting a need to examine how these mechanisms contribute to functional impairment across internalizing conditions.

Aim: This study aimed to assess the correlation between overthinking and procrastination behavior among nurses.

Methods: This study utilized a descriptive correlational research design to gather data. It was conducted in both inpatient wards and outpatient clinics at Fayoum University Hospitals. A purposive sample of 151 nurses from various clinical departments participated. Data collection was conducted using a structured interview questionnaire that the assessment of sociodemographic characteristics, as well as the Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire (PTQ) to measure levels of overthinking. The General Procrastination Scale (GPS) was used to measure procrastination behavior.

Results: Demographic characteristics were as follows: most nurses were women (71.5%) and belonged to the 20–24 age group (54.3%). A notable proportion were unmarried (69.5%), and the majority held a bachelor’s degree of nursing (90.7%). Additionally, over half of the participants (56.3%) reported insufficient income. 15.2% of participating nurses exhibited low levels of overthinking, 49.7% moderate levels, and 35.1% high levels. Also, 1.0% of the nurses studied had low total procrastination, 78.0% of them had moderate total procrastination, and (21.0%) of them had high procrastination.

Conclusion: A significant positive relationship was observed between overthinking and procrastination. Counseling sessions are recommended to help nurses address overthinking patterns and procrastination behaviors during clinical practice.