Purpose: Death anxiety is a core existential concern that can adversely affect students’ psychological well-being and academic functioning. This study examined whether academic procrastination mediates the association between problem-solving styles and death anxiety among university students.

Methods: A descriptive–correlational, cross-sectional design was used. A total of 500 undergraduate students completed self-report measures of problem-solving styles (PSS), academic procrastination (TPS), and death anxiety (DAS). Structural equation modeling was conducted, and bootstrapping procedures were applied to test indirect effects.

Results: The hypothesized mediation model showed acceptable fit. Maladaptive problem-solving styles were associated with higher academic procrastination, and higher procrastination was associated with higher death anxiety. The indirect effect of maladaptive problem-solving styles on death anxiety through academic procrastination was statistically significant. The direct effect also remained significant, indicating partial mediation. R² values indicated that the model accounted for a meaningful proportion of variance in both academic procrastination and death anxiety.

Conclusion: The findings are consistent with a cognitive–behavioral–existential pathway in which maladaptive problem-solving patterns foster procrastination as an avoidance-based strategy that contributes to elevated death anxiety. Interventions that integrate problem-solving training with targeted approaches to reduce procrastination and avoidance may help address students’ mental health concerns and related maladaptive academic behaviors in university counseling and similar clinical settings.