Shenakht Journal of Psychology & Psychiatry

Introduction: Identifying the factors associated with and influencing academic procrastination is of special necessity and importance. It seems that obsessive-compulsive disorder and cognitive avoidance are effective factors in academic procrastination.
Aim: The present research aims to examine the relationship between obsessive-compulsive disorder and academic procrastination with the mediating role of cognitive avoidance.
Method: The present research has been conducted quantitatively and through the descriptive-correlational method. The research statistical population included all students at Urmia University during the second academic semester of 2022-2023 that from among these individuals, 251 students were selected through the multi-stage cluster sampling method. Data collection was conducted through using the Revised Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Foa et al., 2002), the Cognitive Avoidance Scale (Sexton & Dugas, 2008), and the Academic Procrastination Scale (Solomon & Rothblum, 1984) and was analyzed through the SPSS and AMOS softwares.
Results: The results indicated that the direct effect of obsessive-compulsive disorder on academic procrastination is significant (p < 0.01). Additionally, the results showed that obsessive-compulsive disorder has a significant relationship with cognitive avoidance as a mediator (p < 0.05). Finally, the results indicated that the research model was a good fit.
Conclusion: This research showed that cognitive avoidance mediates the relationship between obsessive-compulsive disorder and academic procrastination. Therefore, it is recommended that counselors and psychologists at student counseling centers pay attention to the manifestations of obsessive-compulsive disorder and the cognitive avoidance resulting from it to reduce academic procrastination.