Unlocking academic success: the impact of time management on college students’ study engagement

BACKGROUND: In this study, the purpose was to examine the impact of time management on college students' study engagement and to determine the mechanisms involved. Consequently, we examined the relationship between time management and engagement in study, as well as self-control and mobile phone dependence. METHODS: The Adolescence Time Management Disposition Scale (ATMD), College Student Mobile Phone Dependence Questionnaire (CSMPDQ), Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-student (UWES-S), and Self-Control Scale (SCS) were administered to 1016 college students. A Pearson's correlation analysis and a mediation analysis using bootstrapping were performed in order to test for standard method bias using SPSS 22.0. RESULTS: ①Time management was positively associated with self-control and study engagement, and negatively associated with mobile phone dependence (p <.001). self-control was positively associated with study engagement, and negatively associated with mobile phone dependence (p <.001). Mobile phone dependence was negatively associated with study engagement (p <.01). ②Time management can not only directly predict study engagement (95%CI, 0.102 - 0.208) but also affects study engagement through three indirect paths: self-control was a mediator (95%CI, 0.066 - 0.158), mobile phone dependence was a mediator (95%CI, 0.043 - 0.109), and self-control and mobile phone dependence were a chain mediator (95%CI, 0.012 - 0.032). CONCLUSION: Time management not only influences study engagement directly, but also through the mediating effect of self-control and mobile phone dependence indirectly.