<![CDATA[First-year students are vulnerable to experiencing academic stress due to the transition from secondary education to higher education. Academic demands, adaptation to new learning environments, and psychological adjustment often influence students' academic behaviors, including academic procrastination. Although previous studies have generally reported that academic stress increases procrastination, findings regarding first-year university students remain inconsistent, particularly in the Indonesian higher education context. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the relationship and effect of academic stress on academic procrastination among first-year students. This study employed a quantitative approach using correlational and simple linear regression designs. The participants consisted of 134 first-year students from the Faculty of Tarbiyah at Universitas Ma'arif Lampung, selected through simple random sampling. Data were collected using the Academic Stress Scale and Academic Procrastination Scale based on a five-point Likert model. Data analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics, Spearman Rank correlation, and simple linear regression with the assistance of IBM SPSS Statistics version 21. The findings revealed a significant negative relationship between academic stress and academic procrastination (rs = -0.225, p = 0.009). In addition, academic stress had a significant negative effect on academic procrastination (β = -0.250, p = 0.004). The coefficient of determination showed that academic stress contributed 6.2% to academic procrastination among first-year students. These findings indicate that higher academic stress was associated with lower levels of academic procrastination. This study concludes that academic stress has a significant negative relationship and influence on academic procrastination among first-year students. The findings suggest that, under certain conditions, academic stress may function as adaptive stress that encourages students to strengthen academic responsibility and reduce procrastination. Practically, these results imply that university counseling services should develop early stress-management and academic adjustment programs for first-year students, focusing on helping them transform manageable academic pressure into productive motivation during the transition to university life.]]>
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