Academic Procrastination among Nursing Students: The Role of Social Media Addiction

Objective: This study This study examined the relationship involving social media addiction and academic ‎procrastination among nursing students, along with the moderating roles of gender and Hostel ‎versus non-hostel residence Study Design: Across-sectional survey was conducted. Place and duration of study: In December 2025, in Islamabad, a cross-sectional survey was conducted using a convenience ‎sampling technique with 247 nursing students. Material and Methods: In December 2025, in Islamabad, a cross-sectional survey was conducted using a convenience ‎sampling technique with 247 nursing students. The Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale and an ‎adapted short form of the procrastination scale were administered to measure social media ‎addiction and academic related procrastination. For analysis, which included descriptive ‎statistics, Pearson correlation and moderation analysis, IBM SPSS 29 was used‎. Results: Social media addiction was positively associated with academic procrastination (r ≈ .611, p < ‎‎.001). Gender significantly moderated this relationship (ΔR² = .013, p = .022), with a slightly ‎stronger association among male students. Hostel versus non-hostel residence did not ‎significantly moderate the relationship (ΔR² < .001, p > .05).‎ Conclusion: ‎ This study builds on the existing literature by extending the association between social media ‎addiction and academic procrastination to a nursing population. The role of gender and residence ‎in influencing this relationship was also explored. The findings may support strategies aimed at ‎managing students’ social media engagement patterns and improving academic functioning in ‎nursing education.‎ Keywords: Social media addiction; academic procrastination; nursing students; gender moderation; Hostel ‎vs. non-hostel residence; Pakistan