Time on our side: An exploratory investigation of the relationship between psychiatric disorder and time attitudes.

Time attitudes indicate how individuals feel about the past, present, and future. A growing body of research has demonstrated that scores on the Adolescent and Adult Time Inventory-Time Attitudes Scale relate meaningfully to a variety of measures of well-being and psychiatric symptomatology. To date, no study has examined how (if at all) Time Attitudes scores relate to psychiatric disorder. The present study used an existing clinical cohort (N = 68) and assessed the associations among time attitudes, lifetime disorder, and a retrospective measure of childhood trauma. Preliminary analyses revealed that mean scores of the six time attitudes in the present study did not differ substantially from scores reported in a recent meta-analysis. Correlations between time attitude scores and retrospective trauma scores were particularly large for past negative and past positive. Individuals with no past or current disorder reported substantially higher positive attitudes and substantially lower negative attitudes than those without a disorder across all three time periods with interpretable effect sizes. Finally, past negative time attitudes scores were significantly associated with lifetime mood or anxiety disorder, prior to adjustment for scores on self-reported childhood trauma. These results suggest that time attitudes could be a variable of consequence beyond feelings of general well-being and beyond psychiatric symptoms. More studies with larger sample sizes are required in order to examine the relationship between time attitudes and psychiatric disorder.

The McLean Screening Instrument for Borderline Personality Disorder: What, and why in a clinical cohort?

Borderline Personality Disorder is a severe psychiatric disorder with debilitating consequences. Screening for the disorder is problematic as symptoms overlap with other psychiatric disorders. The McLean Screening Instrument (MSI) assesses endorsement (yes/no) of 10 symptoms, with a cut-off of seven indicating potential caseness. Participants were (N = 68) from an established clinical cohort who completed a structured clinical interview, the MSI, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, and the Adolescent and Adult Time Attitudes Scale. A proportion (N = 20) also completed a follow-up interview examining their rationale for endorsing MSI items. Total number of MSI items endorsed was meaningfully related to scores on emotional neglect and negative time attitudes. There was substantive overlap between MSI threshold (≥7 items) and lifetime diagnosis of a mental disorder. The stated rationale for endorsing MSI items, was less indicative of personality trait, and was related more to particular developmental periods, one-off episodes, and life-contexts. Additionally, participants conflated constructs such as emptiness with loneliness, and moodiness with general emotionality. Those meeting MSI threshold recalled more childhood emotional neglect, and were more negative about all time periods. It is apparent that scoring of the MSI is driven by prevailing life circumstances as much as enduring personality traits.

Time Perspective and Substance Use: An Examination Across Three Adolescent Samples.

Time perspective is conceptualized as a multidimensional construct that assesses individuals' feelings and thoughts about the past, present, and future. The current study examined relationships between feelings (time attitudes) and thoughts (time orientation) about time and substance use behaviors across three adolescent samples. Participants included a high-risk sample of adjudicated youth (N=124; M age =15.54, SD=1.69; 51.61% female) and two general population school samples (N=777; M age =15.82, SD=1.23; 53.41% female; N=1873; M age =15.87, SD=1.28; 52.22% female). Cross-sectional survey data were collected from samples in schools during 2010, 2016, and 2011, respectively. Poisson and negative binomial regression analyses indicated that overall, more positive feelings about time were associated with fewer substances used and, conversely, more negative feelings about time were associated with more substances used. These findings were particularly salient for participants with stronger positive and negative feelings toward the past and present time periods. Further, across the three samples, adolescents with a balanced time orientation (i.e., equal emphasis on all three time periods) generally reported less substance use than individuals who emphasized only one or two time periods. Findings highlight relationships between time perspective dimensions and substance use across diverse samples and illustrate opportunities for adapting time perspective-based substance use interventions for adolescents.

Searching for Something Positive in Future Negative: The Adolescent and Adult Time Inventory-Time Attitudes Scale.

The Adolescent and Adult Time Inventory-Time Attitudes Scale (AATI-TA) measures emotional engagement with the past, present, and future, and scores have been shown to relate meaningfully to health outcomes. For past, present, and future, five items are used to assess both positive and negative attitudes. Although evidence for the hypothesized six-factor solution has been widely reported, some studies have indicated problems with the Future Negative items. Given that a large and growing literature has emerged on the six-factor AATI-TA, and that AATI-TA scores have shown much better and more consistent fit than other temporal psychology measures, we sought to investigate the future negative factor in detail. Secondary analyses were performed on two datasets. The first was a University convenience sample (N = 410) and the second was an adolescent sample (N = 1,612). Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the fit for the five Future Negative items was poor. Modification indices suggested that a correlated error term between Items 4 and 10 would result in good fit, and this was indeed the case. Models without Item 4 or Item 10 also yielded acceptable fit. Analyses using all four operationalizations of Future Negative (original scale, without Item 4 or Item 10, or with the correlated error between Items 4 and 10) to predict symptoms of anxiety and depression, and emotional self-efficacy revealed minor differences in the predictive validity coefficients. Potential ways forward, including a correlated error term or the dropping or replacement of Item 10, are discussed.

Impact of a School-Based Multicomponent Positive Psychology Intervention on Adolescents' Time Attitudes: A Latent Transition Analysis.

Time attitudes, which refer to positive and negative feelings towards the past, present, and future, are a salient phenomenon in the developmental stage of adolescence and have been related to better well-being. Positive feelings towards time can be promoted in the school setting through empirically validated positive psychology interventions. However, the extent to which these interventions impact the time attitudes of adolescents remains unknown. The current study investigated the influence of a multicomponent positive psychology intervention on adolescents' transitions between time attitude profiles and how these transitions are related to their emotional, social, and psychological well-being. Participants consisted of 220 (M = 14.98; 47.3% female) adolescents from two Spanish high schools who participated in the six-week Get to Know Me+ program. Adolescents' time attitudes and well-being were measured via the Adolescents and Adult Time Inventory-Time Attitudes and the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form, respectively, at pre- and postintervention. Participants were clustered in different profiles through a latent profile analysis, and the transitions were analyzed using a latent transition analysis. Five profiles were identified (negative, present/future negative, past negative, optimistic, and positive), and results indicated that adolescents who participated in the intervention were more likely to transition to positive profiles (optimistic and positive) and generally reported higher well-being, especially those in the negative, present/future negative, and optimistic profiles. Preliminary evidence showed that school-based multicomponent positive psychology interventions can have a positive impact on adolescents' feelings towards time and well-being.

Feeling positive towards time: How time attitude profiles are related to mental health in adolescents.

INTRODUCTION: Time attitudes refer to the way individuals feel about their past, present, and future and have been associated with adolescent-specific developmental, social, and emotional changes. The dual-factor model of mental health proposes that optimal functioning entails high levels of emotional, social, and psychological well-being, as well as low levels of psychopathology. Since previous research has suggested that time attitudes can assist in understanding the development of adolescents, the primary objective of this study was to examine the relationship between time attitudes and mental health according to the dual-factor model. METHODS: A total of 317 Spanish high school students aged between 14 and 16 years (45.1% females) participated in the study. Time attitudes were assessed with the Adolescent and Adult Time Inventory-Time Attitudes Scale, and profiles were identified through person-centered analysis. Data were also gathered on well-being and psychological distress measures, which were analyzed as distal outcomes. RESULTS: Four time attitude profiles were identified - negatives, positives, past negatives, and present/future negatives. Adolescents belonging to the positive profile reported higher scores on well-being and lower scores on psychological distress. The psychological well-being and depression constructs had higher (positive and negative, respectively) scores across all profiles. These results suggested an association between time attitude profiles and mental health according to the dual-factor model. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that positive psychology interventions may nudge adolescents towards a more positive appraisal of the past, present, and future and promote their mental health and positive development. Further practical implications are discussed.

Time Perspective Constructs in Albanian and Italian Adolescents: Exploratory Analyses.

Time perspective is an important correlate of developmental outcomes in adolescence, and research has highlighted the importance of assessing the past, the present, and the future. However, there are few instruments that assess all three time periods. In the current study, we examined the responses of Italian and Albanian adolescents on the time frequency, time orientation, time relation, and time attitude subscales of the Adolescent and Adult Time Inventory. Participants consisted of two samples of adolescents-246 Italians and 312 Albanians-who completed translated versions of the Adolescent and Adult Time Inventory. Italian and Albanian adolescents had similar responses to time frequency and time attitudes but differed in time orientation and time relation. Additionally, psychometric evidence supported the internal consistency and structural validity of scores on five of the six time attitude subscales-Past Positive, Past Negative, Present Positive, Present Negative, and Future Positive-but provided less support for Future Negative subscale scores. Time attitude scores showed strong invariance across countries. Comparisons of time attitude mean scores in this study with time attitude means in samples from Germany, Japan, Italy, New Zealand, Turkey, and the United States revealed similarities and differences. Finally, time constructs did not have substantial associations with risky behaviors or seatbelt use. The findings suggest that the Adolescent and Adult Time Inventory can be used in cross-cultural research on time perspective and may help us understand adolescents in these contexts.

Time Attitude Profiles and Health-Related Behaviors: Validation of a Spanish Version of the Adolescent and Adult Time Inventory-Time Attitudes (AATI-TA).

Temporal psychology constructs are an individual difference variable related to behavioral outcomes. Recent research has shown that there are different time attitude profiles based on different configurations of the six Adolescent and Adult Time Inventory-Time Attitude (AATI-TA) subscales. The objective of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of AATI-TA scores in Uruguay and determine the existence of temporal profiles in this context. Participants were a convenience sample of 446 (36.5% males) adults in Uruguay with a mean age of 34.53 years (SD = 13.17, range 18-75 years). Participants completed a sociodemographic questionnaire, the AATI-TA, and questionnaires on intentions, behaviors, and attitudes towards healthy food consumption and physical activity. AATI-TA scores had good reliabilities (> .70). The six-factor solution was supported and invariance by gender and age group was established. We identified five profiles - Resilients, High Positives, Negatives, Present Negatives, and Moderate Positives - which were associated differently with healthy food consumption patterns. Negative profiles were related to higher levels of unhealthy food consumption.

The Japanese Version of the Adolescent Time Inventory-Time Attitudes (ATI-TA) Scale: Internal Consistency, Structural Validity, and Convergent Validity.

In this study, we translated the Adolescent Time Inventory-Time Attitudes (ATI-TA) scale into Japanese and examined the internal consistency and structural and convergent validity of ATI-TA scores in a sample of 383 Japanese high school students aged 15 to 18 years. The ATI-TA consists of six subscales assessing two valences (positive and negative) for each of three time periods (past, present, and future). Internal consistency estimates for scores on the ATI-TA were over .79. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that a six-factor model yielded the best fit to scores. Correlations among ATI-TA scores, time attitudes assessed by the semantic differential method, educational career planning, and self-esteem were consistent with our hypotheses. Our results provide evidence that scores on the Japanese version of the ATI-TA are reliable and valid, and thus potentially useful for research in this cultural context.

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.

The influence of time attitudes profile membership on mental well-being and psychosomatic symptomatology: A United Kingdom-based prospective study.

Mental well-being is of great importance for emotional, psychological and social functioning, particularly in adolescence, a period characterized by significant physical, social, and emotional changes. The extant literature examining the relationship between temporal attitudes and mental and psychosomatic health outcomes is increasing rapidly. Using Latent Transition Analysis (LTA) of Adolescent and Adult Time Inventory-Time Attitude Scale scores across three waves of data (N = 1667; 13-15 years; 42.0% female), we sought to examine the predictive power of time attitudes profile membership on mental well-being and psychosomatic symptomatology at distal wave four. Results indicated that staying in the Positive or Ambivalent profile was associated with more favorable distal outcomes at + 9 months; whereas staying in Negative or Moderately-Negative profile was strongly related to more somatic and psychological symptomatology, and lower mental well-being. Given the potential to modify time attitudes, these findings have several implications for interventions targeting adolescent mental and physical health.

Time attitudes predict changes in adolescent self-efficacy: A 24-month latent transition mover-stayer analysis.

Increasingly, the study of temporal psychology is moving away from bivariate analyses towards person-centered analyses, which simultaneously account for scores on past, present and future dimensions. However, longitudinal studies are lacking. This study builds on a developing literature by examining the 24-month relationship between time attitudes and criterion variables. Four latent profiles called Positive, Ambivalent, Moderately Negative, and Negative, were identified. Results showed that time attitude profiles were generally unstable across the first three years of high school. However, those who stayed in the Positive profile developed higher self-efficacy in all domains. Transitioning to the Positive profile was associated with positive outcomes, whereas other transitions among profiles were associated with negative outcomes. There were small-sized, socio-demographic effects such that living in Northern Ireland (compared to Scotland), being male, and not being entitled to a free school meal, were all related to membership of, or transition to, the Positive profile.

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.

Introducing English and German versions of the Adolescent Time Attitude Scale.

In this study, the authors report on the development of English and German versions of the Adolescent Time Attitude Scale (ATAS). The ATAS consists of six subscales assessing Past Positive, Past Negative, Present Positive, Present Negative, Future Positive, and Future Negative time attitudes. The authors describe the development of the scales and present data on the reliability and structural validity of ATAS scores in samples of American (N = 300) and German (N = 316) adolescents. Internal consistency estimates for scores on the English and German versions of the ATAS were in the .70 to .80 range. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that a six-factor structure yielded the best fit for scores and that the scores were invariant across samples.