زهرا ابنوی

This study investigated the direct and indirect relationships between perceived social support and academic procrastination, mediated by Problematic Social Media Use (PSMU), based on the Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution (I-PACE) model. The sample comprised 354 Iranian high school students (60% female), who completed the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS), and the Procrastination Assessment Scale-Students (PASS). The instruments' validity was confirmed using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), while reliability was assessed with Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The results of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) indicated that perceived social support has a significant negative effect on both academic procrastination and PSMU. Moreover, PSMU was found to play a significant mediating role in the link between perceived social support and academic procrastination. Overall, a decline in perceived social support from family, friends, and significant others prompts individuals to seek support through unregulated social media use, which subsequently contributes to academic procrastination.