Stress and subjective life expectancy: Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations in early adolescence.

Using data from a longitudinal study, the present study employed a latent class mover-stayer analytical strategy to examine both the cross-sectional and longitudinal (+33 months) relationship between membership of stress classes, and subjective life expectancy. Participants were from 21 High schools in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Data were collected in the first year of High school (mean age = 12.5 years), and at +33 months (fourth year, or school year 11). Sample 1 consisted of 1171 adolescents (40.82% females, 2.56% unreported) in Northern Ireland. Sample 2 consisted of 1059 adolescents (52.79% females, 1.32% unreported) in Scotland. Adolescents with the lowest levels of stress projected the highest subjective life expectancy scores. Longitudinal analyses were jumbled and not in keeping with cross-sectional results. More research may be needed on the trajectory of subjective life expectancy over time before it can be depended upon as a reliable outcome variable in adolescent development.

The impact of stress latent class membership and transitions on statutory service and alcohol use in adolescents across 33 months.

INTRODUCTION: Adolescence is a period of intense physical, biological, and psychological change, and this can result in feelings of stress. We examined the development of stress in early adolescence, and further, how that development impacted on both alcohol-use behaviours and utilisation of government-provided services. METHODS: We used a shortened, 24-item version of the Adolescent Stress Questionnaire (ASQ) to account for stress, and applied latent transition analysis to examine longitudinal change. Participants were 2230 school children (Mage = 12.5 years at time one) in Northern Irish and Scottish schools who completed a battery of questionnaires 33 months apart. RESULTS: We identified three stress profiles at baseline and 33 months: (a) High Stress, (b) Typical Stress, and (c) Low Stress. Stress profiles were shown to be associated with, and predict, a theoretically consistent set of outcomes, where adolescents who experienced high levels of stress also suffered from both problematic alcohol behaviours and harms, and utilised services. CONCLUSIONS: Future studies are recommended to include more exploration into the usefulness of a multivariate conceptualising of ASQ-S scores.

Applying statistics to the gatekeeping of expert evidence: Introducing the Structured Statistical Judgement (SSJ).

Daubert required judges to base their decisions about the admissibility of expert witness testimony in large part on the reliability and validity of empirical observations. Because judges have a wide array of duties and may not be equipped to understand the complexities of statistical analysis, some jurists have recommended that court-appointed experts assist judges in their gatekeeping function. To assist such experts in scrutinizing empirical papers, we propose a Structured Statistical Judgement (SSJ) that takes advantage of advances in the various statistical methods - such as effect sizes that adjust for error - which have allowed researchers to report increasingly more reliable and valid observations. We also include supplementary materials that court-appointed experts can use both as a codebook to operationalize the SSJ and as a quick reference that will aid consultation with judges. An initial application of the SSJ examined all 93 empirical articles published in Psychology, Public Policy, and Law and Law and Human Behavior in 2015 and resulted in excellent interrater reliability (π = 0.83; π = 0.95; π = 0.97), at the same time it indicated that a majority of the articles fail to include the comprehensive and transparent statistical analysis that would be most useful to courts.

A balanced time perspective: Is it an exercise in empiricism, and does it relate meaningfully to health and well-being outcomes?

Time perspective research assesses the degree to which thoughts and feelings about the past, present and future influence behaviour, and a balanced time perspective profile has been posited as being ideal. Although this area of research has seen a move towards person-centred analyses, using either cluster analyses or a deviation from balanced time perspective (DBTP) approach, there are a number of theoretical and methodological issues that must be addressed. Using data from diverse samples in four countries, the present study used both cluster analyses and the DBTP approach to assess how cluster membership and DBTP scores related to a range of health and well-being outcomes. As in previous studies, a balanced profile only emerged once in cluster analyses, and positive-oriented profiles were associated with optimal outcomes. The study also found evidence of a relationship between DBTP scores and scores on well-being indicators. However, results gained after manipulating the DBTP equation in two different ways again indicated that higher than expected positive past and present or past and future scores were responsible for the positive outcomes. As such, these findings raise concerns regarding the use of the DBTP construct within clinical settings.

Time attitudes profile stability and transitions: An exploratory study of adolescent health behaviours among high school students.

PURPOSE: Time attitudes refer to individuals' feelings about the past, present, and future, and an increasing number of cross-sectional studies have demonstrated that positive time attitudes are significantly related to better health and well-being. We investigated time attitude profile membership and associated transitions longitudinally in United Kingdom-based adolescents, and assessed the relationship between time attitude profile development on health behaviours at + 21 months after the data collection involving time attitudes. METHODS: Participants were high school students (N = 1306; 41.8% female, Mage 12.5-14.5 years [waves 1-3]). The Adolescent and Adult Time Inventory - Time Attitudes Scale was employed to identify profiles, and a mover-stayer latent transition analysis was employed to examine developmental changes. Data were also gathered on sensation seeking, and a range of health indicators were assessed: Past week frequency of physical exercise, self-rated health, subjective life expectancy, lifetime cannabis and smoking, and dental attendance. RESULTS: Staying in a positive time attitude profile was related to higher subjective life expectancy, and less frequent use of cannabis and cigarettes (1.00 ≤ d ≤ 4.00). Further, moving to a positive profile predicted healthier outcomes for most health measures used. CONCLUSIONS: Notwithstanding the limitation that health outcomes in the present study were distal, the present study bolstered a developing cross-sectional literature supporting the association between positive time attitudes and better health and well-being outcomes. Future longitudinal studies which assess measures concurrently are required.

How Individuals Feel About the Past, Present, and Future Bears Little Relation to Alcohol-Related Problems, Anxiety, and Depression: A Person-Centered Analysis in a University Sample.

Previous studies using bivariate or correlational analyses have established a relationship between alcohol use, symptoms of anxiety and depression, and scores on a range of temporal psychology measures. Temporal psychology measures variously assess the cognitive or affective (or in some cases, both) engagement with the past, present, and future. Although developed and validated in adolescents, recent research has suggested that the Time Attitudes Scale is internally consistent and reliable in adults also. The present study is the first to apply a person-centered approach to assessing the relationship between scores on the Time Attitudes Scale and symptoms of anxiety, depression, and alcohol-related problems in adults. Participants were recruited from a University in England. Results support the validity and internal consistency of the Time Attitudes Scale. Meaningful time attitudes profiles emerged, however, taking the sample size into account, the only substantive finding showed that those with a negative time attitudes profile scored higher on depressive symptomatology than those with a positive profile. While elsewhere, Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory scores have been shown to be meaningfully related to anxiety, depression and alcohol use, the present study questions the degree to which the affective dimension of temporal psychology is driving that relationship.

A pathway model for emotional distress and implications for therapeutic jurisprudence in African American juvenile court respondents.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to propose and examine a pathway to emotional distress in African Americans with juvenile court contact (N = 213; Male = 71%; MAge = 15, SDAge = 1.47). METHOD: The model included direct and indirect effects of parent attachment and empathy, as well as the direct effects of pro-social and aggressive behavior, on emotional distress, CFI = .99, TLI = .95, χ²(1) = 2.60 p = .11, and RMSEA = .09. RESULTS: This model explained 49% of variability of scores for emotional distress. Overall, aggressive behavior had the strongest relationship with emotional distress (ß = .63), followed by parent attachment (ß = -.38). In contrast, empathy (ß = .12) and pro-social behavior (ß = .17) were not related to emotional distress scores. A second model that included males and females simultaneously, without equality constraints, revealed substantive gender differences, CFI = .99, TLI = .91, χ²(2) = 4.63 p = .10, and RMSEA = .11. CONCLUSIONS: Results are discussed in the context of therapeutic jurisprudence, and recommendations are proposed for providers of court-ordered interventions (i.e., therapy and probation supervision). (PsycINFO Database Record

Concurrent validity of Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory profiles: A secondary analysis of data from the United Kingdom.

This paper examined the association between membership in profiles based on a shortened form of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI-S; McKay, Andretta, McGee, & Worrell, 2014) and other temporal and psychosocial variables. Participants consisted of 1620 adolescents attending high school in Northern Ireland. ZTPI-S scores had correlations with other temporal and psychosocial variables that were similar to those reported for ZTPI scores in previous studies. Four ZTPI-S profiles were identified-Balanced, Past Negative, Present Hedonistic, and Future-and results indicated that these profiles had theoretically meaningful relationships with self-esteem, self-efficacy, aggression, parental attachment, consideration of future consequences, and future temporal focus. Unlike studies of college students where the Balanced profile was related to more adaptive functioning, the Future profile was related to more adaptive functioning. Future studies are needed to establish the generalizability of these profiles and to determine if there are developmental differences in which profiles are more adaptive.

What do temporal profiles tell us about adolescent alcohol use? Results from a large sample in the United Kingdom.

The psychological construct broadly known as time perspective is potentially useful in understanding a range of adolescent behaviours, including alcohol use. However, the utility of the construct has been hindered by measurement and conceptual problems. To date the vast majority of studies have assessed the relationship between time perspective and other measures in a variable-focussed (correlational) rather than a person-centred way. The present series of studies used a person-centred approach to assess the relationship between temporal profiles and alcohol use in a large sample (n = 1620) of adolescents from High Schools in Northern Ireland. Although a 'Balanced' time perspective has been suggested as optimal, the present study suggests that having a 'Future' temporal profile is associated with less problematic use of alcohol, while having a 'Past Negative' or 'Hedonist' profile is associated with more problematic consumption. Results are discussed in the context of the time perspective and alcohol use literatures.

Cross Racial Identity Scale (CRIS) scores and profiles in African American adolescents involved with the juvenile justice system.

In this study, we examined the internal consistency and structural validity of Cross Racial Identity Scale (CRIS) scores in a sample of 477 African American adolescents who had been arrested in a city in the mid-Atlantic. Using cluster analysis, we also identified profiles of CRIS scores and compared adolescents with different profiles on Major Depressive Episode, Manic Episode, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder scores. Results indicated that CRIS subscale scores were reliable, and the 6-factor structure of the CRIS was supported. Five nigrescence profiles were identified: Miseducation-Pro-Black, Conflicted-Self-Hatred, Multiculturalist, Low Race Salience, and Conflicted-Anti-White. Individuals with Conflicted-Self-Hatred profiles reported significantly and meaningfully higher scores on the 4 syndromes than did their peers, and individuals with the Multiculturalist and Low Race Salience profiles reported the lowest scores. A greater percentage of individuals with Conflicted racial identity profiles had syndrome scores in the clinically significant range. The results of this study demonstrate that some of the nigrescence profiles found in college-age students generalize to adolescents. The implications of the findings for theory, research, and practice are discussed.

Demographic group differences in adolescents' time attitudes.

In the present study, we examined demographic differences in time attitudes in a sample of 293 adolescents. Time attitudes were measured using the Adolescent Time Attitude Scale (Mello & Worrell, 2007; Worrell, Mello, & Buhl, 2011), which assesses positive and negative attitudes toward the past, the present, and the future. Generally, African Americans and Asian Americans reported higher scores for negative time attitudes and lower scores for positive time attitudes than European Americans and Latinos, with medium sizes. Adolescents in the low socioeconomic status group reported a less favorable evaluation of their past than middle and high SES peers, but there were no meaningful differences in time attitudes by gender. Findings indicate that middle SES adolescents, high school juniors and seniors, Latinos, and European Americans had higher representation in positive time attitude clusters (i.e., Positives and Balanced) than high SES adolescents, high school freshmen and sophomores, and African Americans.

Do I belong?: it depends on when you ask.

A feeling of belonging to an academic context is a critical determinant of academic achievement and persistence, particularly for students of color. Despite the fact that students of color are generally more susceptible to fluctuations in belonging uncertainty than White students, survey design can unintentionally mask this reality. We investigated whether context effects undermine the accurate assessment of belonging uncertainty in junior high and high school students (Study 1) and college students (Study 2). Considering one's ethnic identification (Study 1) and personal experiences with discrimination (Study 2) threatens sense of belonging in students of color, but not White students. Researchers should consider question order within surveys so as not to artificially mask belonging uncertainty in students of color.

Intervention impact on alcohol use, alcohol harms, and a combination of both: A latent class, secondary analysis of results from a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Alcohol use and alcohol-related harm (ARH) among adolescents places a substantial burden on health, and public services more generally. To date, attempts to intervene at a universal level have yielded results varying from iatrogenic to null, although some skill-enhancing universal interventions have successfully impacted drinking behaviors. One such intervention is SHAHRP. The present study is a secondary analysis of data from the STAMPP Trial, providing new, and more nuanced findings. METHODS: A total of 13,914 adolescents (41.7% female) participated in this cRCT where schools were randomly assigned to a control or intervention group. Growth mixture modelling was used to identify trajectory classes from baseline through third follow-up (+33 months) of adolescents on heavy episodic drinking (HED) and ARH. Extracted classes were related to school intervention participation using multinomial logistic regression. RESULTS: Five trajectory classes of the HED and ARH composite were identified: Low (62%), Late Onset (16%), Early Onset (13%), Delayed Onset (7%), and Unstable (3%). The intervention was most strongly related to Late Onset (OR = 0.50, 95%CI [0.25, 1.01]) and Delayed Onset (OR = 0.55, 95%CI [0.26, 1.16]), although not statistically significant. With classes constructed with ARH only, the Delayed Onset class was significantly related to the intervention (OR = 0.60, 95%CI [0.43, 0.84]). CONCLUSIONS: These results support those previously reported on the STAMPP Trial and provide a more nuanced insight into the effects of the intervention.

Socio-demographic predictors of well-being in United Kingdom adolescents, and the impact of well-being on a range of health-related outcomes.

The deleterious impact of low mental well-being, and higher levels psychological symptoms (collectively well-being), on concurrent and prospective health outcomes has elsewhere been demonstrated. Further, variables such as conurbation and deprivation have been found to be related to mental and physical heath. This study used data from a longitudinal study to examine which demographic predicted well-being scores, and how scores on these constructs were related to six health-related outcomes. Participants were adolescents (N = 4,956; Male = 2376[48%]), from 72 High Schools in Northern Ireland. Three waves of data were gathered on mental well-being, psychological symptoms, subjective life expectancy (living to age 35 and age 75 years), self-rated health, frequency of physical exercise, and lifetime use of cigarettes and cannabis. Results showed that both well-being scores were significantly associated with gender cross-sectionally, but demographic variables did not predict changes in well-being longitudinally. Both well-being measures were significantly associated with health outcomes cross-sectionally, with mental well-being (over time) predicting life subjective life expectancy, self-rated health, and addictive behaviors, while psychological symptoms (over time) predicted the former two, but not addictive behaviors. Overall, the relationship between mental well-being, psychological symptoms, and the health outcomes assessed, was small in terms of effect size.

Psychometric properties of Adolescent Time Inventory Time Attitude (ATI-TA) scores in three waves of longitudinal data.

Within the broad area of time perspective, there are numerous narrower or more specific constructs. One of these, time attitudes, is said to refer to an individual's emotional and evaluative feelings toward the past, the present, and the future. Scores on the Adolescent Time Inventory-Time Attitudes Scale (ATI-TA) have been shown to be psychometrically sound in a range of cross-sectional studies in different cultural contexts. The present study is the first longitudinal (3 waves) examination of these scores. Participants consisted of 2 samples of adolescents (NS1 = 1,148; NS2 = 464) participating in a study in the United Kingdom. They were 12.5 years old during the first data collection period, with Waves 2 and 3 being 1 and 2 years later, respectively. Results show that at each time point, scores were internally consistent and the hypothesized 6-factor model provided the best fit for the data with factor coefficients in the moderate to strong range. Results also demonstrate configural, scalar, and metric invariance of scores by gender and sample at each time point, and configural invariance across time points. Participants were more positive than negative about the past, present, and future at each time point. (PsycINFO Database Record

Using Temporal Profiles and a Deviation from Balanced Approach to Understand Alcohol and Mental Health Problems.

The present study examined how multiple operationalizations of Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI) scores (raw scores; temporal profiles, based on cluster analysis; and the Deviation from a Balanced Time Perspective, or 'transformed' methodology) were related to both alcohol-related problems and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Participants were a large (N = 816) university sample in the United Kingdom. A total of four time perspective profiles were observed: Futures, Presents, Past Negative-Futures, and Fatalists. Having a Present profile was associated with the worst alcohol-related outcomes. With regard to psychopathology, individuals with a Future profile reported the least anxious and depressive symptoms, and individuals with a Fatalistic profile reported the highest levels of depression. The effect of transformed scores was less robust, though greater deviation from a balanced perspective was associated with somewhat higher symptoms of anxiety and depression. Further, models using raw ZTPI dimension scores explained a greater amount of variance than models using the transformed scores. This study suggests that operationalizing the ZTPI in different ways produces results, which differ both in magnitude and statistical significance. We recommend that future studies using the ZTPI employ these various operationalizations in order that consensus on the optimal approach can be reached.

Evidence for the Psychometric Validity, Internal Consistency and Measurement Invariance of Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale Scores in Scottish and Irish Adolescents.

Mental well-being is an important indicator of current, but also the future health of adolescents. The 14-item Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS) has been well validated in adults world-wide, but less work has been undertaken to examine the psychometric validity and internal consistency of WEMWBS scores in adolescents. In particular, little research has examined scores on the short 7-item version of the WEMWBS. The present study used two large samples of school children in Scotland and Northern Ireland and found that for both forms of the WEMWBS, scores were psychometrically valid, internally consistent, factor saturated, and measurement invariant by country. Using the WEMWBS full form, males reported significantly higher scores than females, and Northern Irish adolescents reported significantly higher scores than their Scottish counterparts. Last, the lowest overall levels of well-being were observed among Scottish females.

The direct and indirect effect of loneliness on the development of adolescent alcohol use in the United Kingdom.

Alcohol use among adolescents in the United Kingdom (UK) remains relatively high compared to those in other European countries. The present study sought to examine both the direct and indirect effect of loneliness on drinking behavior. Participants were school children (mean age 13.5 years at Time 1) participating in a Randomized Controlled Trial in the UK, who completed a battery of questionnaires examining alcohol-use indicators, loneliness, self-efficacy and sensation seeking at Time 1 and at +12 months. Loneliness at Time 1 had a substantive, though largely indirect (i.e., via self-efficacy and sensation seeking covariates), impact on alcohol-related harm at +12 months. Furthermore, Loneliness interacted with gender in the prediction of context of alcohol use, where being female and experiencing loneliness put an individual at a greater risk of unsupervised drinking. Females experiencing loneliness were also 2.9 times as likely to have had a drink in the past 30 days, and around 2.5 times as likely to have ever consumed a full drink, when compared to their male peers. The current results indicate that loneliness is an important but complex factor in adolescent drinking. There are important implications for the development of interventions to prevent underage drinking, not least that it is not appropriate to consider all underage drinkers as socially marginalised. However, for those that are, the self-medication hypothesis is potentially relevant through emotional self-efficacy.

Temporal attitudes profile transition among adolescents: A longitudinal examination using mover-stayer latent transition analysis.

[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported in Vol 29(7) of Psychological Assessment (see record 2016-47183-001). In the article, the affiliation for Michael T. McKay should be Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Liverpool. All versions of this article have been corrected.] Over the last 20 years, the study of Temporal Psychology and its relationship with a range of psychosocial indicators has increased exponentially. The present study makes use of recent advances in analytic methods and uses statistical inference via longitudinal examination of latent profiles through Latent Transition Analyses (LTA). The first 2 available waves of data from a longitudinal study in the United Kingdom were used to assess the following: (a) the factor structure of Adolescent Time Inventory-Time Attitudes Scale (ATAS) scores at Waves 1 and 2, (b) the viability of time attitudes profiles based on ATAS scores at both time points, (c) the degree of stability and/or transition between membership of these profiles at +12 months, and (d) the relationship between profiles and scores on 4 distal outcomes, including academic, social and emotional self-efficacy, and sensation seeking. Four latent profiles called Positives, Ambivalents, Negatives, and Negative-Futures were identified and their relationship with the 4 distal outcomes was examined. Results showed that time attitude profiles were unstable across the first year of high school. Furthermore, instability was explained by transitions to more negative profiles, and these transitions were associated with unfavorable outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record

The relationship between temporal profiles and alcohol-related problems in University undergraduates: Results from the United Kingdom.

Time perspective is an individual difference variable which assesses the extent to which orientation to the past, present and future affects current behaviors. The present study investigated the viability of temporal profiles and the degree (if any) to which these predict meaningful differences in alcohol-related problems. Participants were undergraduates recruited from a University in the North West of England. Full survey data were available for 455 individuals (aged 18-25; 49.7% male) on (a) time perspective, and (b) alcohol-related problems. Four profiles emerged and were labeled Future-Positive, Present, Past Negative-Future, and Ambivalent. As hypothesized, the Future-Positive profile was associated with the best alcohol-related outcomes. The Present profile was associated with the worst outcomes. This study demonstrates that temporal profiles are associated with alcohol-related problems.