Academic Procrastination State Inventory – German Version (APSI-d)

Abstract

The Academic Procrastination State Inventory – Deutsche Version (APSI-d) is a psychological instrument designed to assess the current, situational experience of academic delay among students. Procrastination is conceptualized as a complex, often situation-spreading behavioral pattern, characterized by the needless postponement of necessary tasks. This pattern is frequently associated with specific negative psychological states, such as depressive moods, anxiety, and irrational cognitions (e.g., “I can do that very quickly; I’ll finish it tonight”). The APSI-d focuses on measuring these acute behavioral, affective, and cognitive manifestations of postponement, particularly concerning unpleasant academic obligations like studying for exams or writing papers.

Keywords

Academic Procrastination, State Measure, Academic Delay, Study Behavior, Student Assessment, Anxiety, Aversion, Behavioral Pattern

Authors

Helmke and Schrader (German Adaptation); Schouwenburg (Original Dutch APSI)

Purpose

The primary purpose of the APSI-d is to measure the temporal variability and change in academic delaying behavior, functioning specifically as a State-Questionnaire. Unlike trait measures, the APSI-d captures the severity and frequency of specific procrastination symptoms and related feelings experienced over a defined, recent period—specifically, the last week. This focus on the immediate state makes it valuable for intervention studies and monitoring acute academic stress.

The scale was developed to operationalize two main aspects of procrastination as defined by Schouwenburg (1995): the lack of promptness in starting tasks and the preference for engaging in competing activities. The German version, however, empirically identified three distinct underlying factors.

Construct

The core construct measured is Academic Procrastination, defined as the voluntary delay of an intended, necessary, or important task despite knowing that there will be negative consequences. Theoretically, procrastination involves behavioral components (delayed initiation or completion), affective components (e.g., anxiety, aversion), and cognitive components (e.g., self-deception, irrational thoughts).

Based on the factor analysis conducted by Helmke and Schrader (2000), the APSI-d measures three specific, correlated subdimensions of academic procrastination:

1. State-Procrastination in the Strict Sense (APSI-d_1): Encompasses core delaying behaviors, competitive activities, unrealistic planning, lack of persistence, and concentration difficulties.
2. Anxiety and Uncertainty (APSI-d_2): Measures emotional components such as panic feelings, tension during studying, and doubts regarding one’s own abilities or the capacity to meet demands (missed achievement goal attainment).
3. Aversion (APSI-d_3): Captures motivational deficits, including feelings of boredom, strong dislike (aversion), or even hatred towards the study material or the decision to pursue the course of study.

Validity

The validity of the APSI-d is supported by evidence for convergent, divergent, and criterion validity, established through correlations with other psychological measures.

• Convergent and Divergent Validity: The first subdimension (State-Procrastination in the Strict Sense) showed a high correlation (.70) with the corresponding central procrastination dimension of the trait measure APS-d, confirming that both state and habitual procrastination share core features. The other subdimensions demonstrated moderate correlations, indicating they capture distinct, but related, aspects of the construct.
• Criterion Validity: The scale demonstrated significant associations between current delaying behavior and psychological distress. Specifically, the dimension of Anxiety and Uncertainty showed moderate to high correlations with measures of depressivity (PHQ-D), fear of failure (LHA), and evaluation anxiety (SANB). This supports the conceptualization of frequent procrastination as a problematic behavior associated with psychological burden.
• Group Differences: Significant mean differences were observed across various student subgroups, supporting the scale’s discriminant ability. For instance, female students reported significantly higher scores on the Anxiety and Uncertainty dimension. Furthermore, students enrolled in less structured academic fields (e.g., Political Science) exhibited significantly higher scores on the overall APSI-d scale and the State-Procrastination dimension compared to students in highly structured fields (e.g., Medicine, Psychology).
• Intervention Sensitivity: Data from an intervention study designed to reduce student procrastination showed that mean scores on the APSI-d decreased significantly after training, indicating the instrument is sensitive to measuring changes in acute delaying behavior.

Reliability

The internal consistency of the three identified subdimensions was assessed using Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients. The reliability values ranged between .82 and .89 across the three subscales, indicating good internal consistency for the German version of the APSI-d.

Factor Analysis

The dimensional structure of the APSI-d was initially explored using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) by Helmke and Schrader (2000), which identified three underlying dimensions explaining 59.8% of the variance. These dimensions were labeled: 1. Procrastination in the strict sense (Verzögern, Konzentrationsschwierigkeiten, Energiemangel), 2. Fear of failure (Misserfolgsangst), and 3. Motivational deficits (Aversion).

This structure was further validated using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) for categorical data, leveraging the Mplus software package. The CFA confirmed the three-factor structure but required modifications, including allowing certain items (5, 8, 13, and 23) to associate significantly with two latent variables (cross-loadings) and permitting two residual correlations to achieve an acceptable model fit (CFI = 0.93, RMSEA = 0.06). The resulting factors were renamed as State-Procrastination in the Strict Sense, Anxiety and Uncertainty, and Aversion, with inter-factor correlations ranging from .30 to .67. Factor loadings ranged between .26 and .93.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report State Questionnaire

Format: 23 Items assessed on a 5-point Likert scale (Rating Scale).

Language Available: German (Deutsche Version), adapted from the original Dutch APSI.

Population Group: Students/Academics.

Age Group: Adults (Validation sample aged 19 to 47).

Population Details: Validation was conducted on N=939 students (50.3% male, 49.7% female) from the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster during the 2002/2003 winter semester. The sample was highly diverse regarding field of study and semester count (1st to 17th semester).

Test Methodology: Respondents rate the frequency with which specific behaviors or thoughts occurred during the last week. The 5-point scale ranges from: 1) niemals (never), 2) selten (rarely), 3) manchmal (sometimes), 4) meistens (mostly), 5) immer/ständig (always/constantly). Item 10 must be reverse-scored for evaluation. No norm values are currently available for the APSI-d, and evaluation using confirmatory factor analysis is recommended due to the non-continuous distribution of the data.

Keywords

Psychological Assessment, Academic Performance, State-Trait Distinction, Factor Structure, Test Development, Student Mental Health, Mplus

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source content.

Affiliation Email addresses: Dipl.-Psych. Julia Patzelt ([email protected]); Dipl.-Psych. Inga Opitz ([email protected]).

Correspondence Address: Dipl.-Psych. Julia Patzelt, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Psychotherapie-Ambulanz, Fliednerstr. 21, Pavillon V, 48149 Münster, Germany.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The German version of the APSI-d was developed and validated by Helmke and Schrader in 2000, with a major validation study conducted in 2002/2003 at the University of Münster. Information regarding permissions and fees for commercial use must be obtained directly from the authors. The scale is reported as having a validated status of development.

Reference’s

• Aitken, M. E. (1982). A personality profile of the college student procrastinator. Cited in Ferrari, J. R., Johnson, J. L., & McCown, W. G. (1995). Procrastination and Task Avoidance: Theory, Research, and Treatment. Plenum Press.
• Beißner, H. (2004). Evaluation eines kognitiv-behavioralen Trainingsprogramms zur Reduktion von Prokrastination bei Studierenden. Unveröffentlichte Diplomarbeit. Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster.
• Helmke, A., & Schrader, F. W. (2000). Prokrastination bei Studierenden. Zeitschrift für Pädagogische Psychologie, 14(1), 17-27.
• Opitz, I. (2004). Zur Dimensionalität von Prokrastination: Überprüfung des Academic Procrastination State Inventory (APSI-d) und der Aitken Procrastination Scale (APS-d). Unveröffentlichte Diplomarbeit. Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster.
• Patzelt, J. (2004). Validierung von Skalen zur Erfassung von Prokrastination bei Studierenden. Unveröffentlichte Diplomarbeit. Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster.
• Samberg, T. (2004). Evaluation eines kognitiv-behavioralen Trainingsprogramms zur Reduktion von Prokrastination bei Studierenden. Unveröffentlichte Diplomarbeit. Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster.
• Schouwenburg, H. C. (1992). Procrastination in academic tasks: A state or a trait? Paper presented at the 25th International Congress of Psychology, Brussels.
• Schouwenburg, H. C. (1994). Academic Procrastination State Inventory. University of Groningen.
• Schouwenburg, H. C. (1995). Academic procrastination: Theoretical notions, measurement, and research. In J. R. Ferrari, J. L. Johnson, & W. G. McCown (Eds.), Procrastination and task avoidance: Theory, research, and treatment (pp. 71-96). Plenum Press.
• Solomon, L. J., & Rothblum, E. D. (1984). Academic procrastination: Frequency and cognitive-behavioral correlates. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 31(4), 503-509.
• Tuckman, B. W. (1991). The development and concurrent validity of the Procrastination Scale. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 51(2), 473-480.

Items of the des Academic Procrastination State Inventory – Deutsche Version (APSI-d)

Instruktion

In diesem Teil geht es um Ihr Lernverhalten und die Eigenart, Dinge aufzuschieben. Bitte lesen Sie sich die Fragen sorgfältig durch und antworten Sie ehrlich. Hierbei sollen Sie einschätzen, wie häufig bestimmte Situationen aufgetreten sind. Sie dürfen sich hier zwischen fünf Antwortstufen entscheiden:

• niemals
• selten
• manchmal
• meistens
• immer/ständig

Bitte schätzen Sie die Häufigkeit ein, mit der Sie verschiedene “Symptome” bei sich feststellen.” Wie oft sind in der letzten Woche die folgenden Verhaltensweisen und Gedanken bei Ihnen aufgetreten? Sie sind/haben…

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