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Due to the undeniably morning orientation of the social clock, the evening chronotype can be associated with negative consequences, both at the affective and cognitive levels. Evening-oriented individuals are more susceptible to affective disorders, show poorer educational achievements and consume stimulants more often than morning-oriented individuals. However, little is known about potential factors that may attenuate or amplify these negative emotional consequences of the evening preference. Thus, our aim was to examine whether personality traits interplay with chronotype in predicting depressive symptoms. We assessed the Big Five and the Big Two personality traits, morningness-eveningness and depressive symptoms in an online sample of 913 Polish individuals (468 females, 445 males), aged 18-35 (M = 26.34, SD = 5.15). Eveningness, higher neuroticism, lower conscientiousness and lower alpha-stability were associated with higher depressive symptoms. The magnitude of the association between eveningness and depressive symptoms decreased with higher conscientiousness and alpha-stability, as well as with lower neuroticism. In conclusion, high neuroticism, low conscientiousness and low alpha-stability increase the risk of depressive symptoms, particularly among evening chronotypes. The patients' chronotypes and personality traits should be taken into account in both the prevention and diagnostics of depression.

Time perspective theory provides a robust conceptual framework for analyzing human behavior in the context of time. So far, the concept has been studied and applied in multiple life domains, such as education, health, social relationships, environmental behavior, or financial behavior; however, its explanatory potential has been completely neglected within the domain of sport. In the present paper we provide a deepened theoretical analysis of the potential role of temporal framing of human experience for sport-related attitudes, emotions, and athletic performance. We propose a conceptual model in which time perspectives influence psychological functioning and performance of athletes via three major mechanisms: (1) magnitude and persistence of sport motivation and resulting athlete engagement, (2) regulation of affective states during sport performance, and (3) appraisal of one’s performance and coping with resulting emotions. We support the theoretical considerations based on the major assumptions of time perspective theory with research findings regarding the regulatory role of time perspectives in other life domains. We also highlight potential research paths that would allow us to empirically test the present model and determine the actual role of temporal perspectives in shaping crucial aspects of athletes’ psychological functioning, as well as levels of their sport performance.

The concept of sport engagement, emerging from the application of major ideas of positive psychology in sport science, has become a valuable conceptual and practical addition to understanding athlete burnout. The present article reports the major results of an attempt to develop a Polish version of the Sport Engagement Scale, a brief metric created to measure athletes' engagement for both research and practical purposes. Study 1, conducted on a sample of Polish athletes (N = 214) supports the original threefactor structure of engagement comprising the dimensions of Vigor, Dedication, and Absorption. A single-factor model also fit the data well, suggesting that calculating a general engagement factor is also justifiable. The internal consistency of the scale, as well as its associations with athletic burnout, competition anxiety, personality traits, declared sport level, and number of hours spent in training, provide evidence for sufficient concurrent criterion validity and the reliability of the scale for both research and applied purposes. Study 2, conducted on a sample of athletes taking part in a half marathon run (N = 135), provides evidence for the scale's predictive criterion validity with respect to objective performance: greater engagement, particularly scores in the Vigor subscale, predicted significantly better running performance. In the discussion, we summarize the present findings, commenting on their limitations and highlighting future research paths for the phenomenon of sport engagement.

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