Predicting Educational Outcomes and Psychological Well-Being in Adolescents Using Time Attitude Profiles

Abstract

Using cluster analysis of Adolescent Time Attitude Scale (ATAS) scores in a sample of 300 adolescents (M age = 16 years; SD = 1.25; 60% male; 41% European American; 25.3% Asian American; 11% African American; 10.3% Latino), the authors identified five time attitude profiles based on positive and negative attitudes toward the past, present, and future. Four of the profiles identified in the present study were conceptually similar to profiles that emerged in a study in a German sample. Adolescents with profiles characterized by higher positive attitudes than negative attitudes (i.e., Positive, Optimistic, and Balanced) reported more favorable educational and psychological outcomes than did adolescents with profiles marked by higher negative attitudes (i.e., Negative and Pessimistic). These findings provide support for the generalizability of time attitude profiles and the pattern of relationships between ATAS profiles and other constructs.

Reliability and factorial validity of Adolescent Time Inventory–Time Attitude (ATI-TA) Scores in Scottish and Northern Irish adolescents

“…profiles of time attitude scores that have shown relationships with academic achievement in adolescents (Andretta, Worrell, & Mello, 2014), and to a study with college students that reported a positive association between the ZTPI-future subscale and self-reported hours studying per week . Further, we showed associations with social and emotional self-efficacies.…”

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

“…Most of the studies with adolescent samples (i.e., Alansari et al, 2013;Andretta et al, 2013Andretta et al, , 2014Buhl & Linder, 2009) have used the time attitude (TA) subscales of the Adolescent Time Inventory (ATI; Mello & Worrell, 2007), another multidimensional instrument. These groups of researchers classified adolescents into positive (e.g., Positives, Optimists, Balanced, and Ambivalents) and negative profiles (e.g.…”

Measuring time attitudes in Slovenia: Psychometric proprieties of the Adolescent and Adult Time Attitude Scale (AATI-TA)

“…In addition to the correlational findings, as reported in the Introduction, recent person-centred analyses have also demonstrated substantial associations between time attitude and time perspective profiles and indicators of well being (Alansari et al, 2013;Andretta et al, 2014;Cole et al, 2017;McKay et al, 2016). Importantly, in a longitudinal study, Wells, Morgan, Worrell, Sumnall, and McKay (2016) showed that adolescents who started and remained in positive profiles were less likely to use alcohol and had healthier attitudes towards alcohol, whereas those who transitioned to negative profiles reported more unhealthy drinking behaviors.…”

“…Several profiles have been found, including Positives, Optimists, Balanced, Ambivalents, Negatives, and Pessimists. Importantly, individuals with different profiles differ meaningfully on outcomes, with more positive profiles associated with more adaptive outcomes, including life satisfaction, mental health, and academic success (Alansari et al, 2013;Andretta et al, 2014;Buhl & Lindner, 2009;Cole et al, 2017;McKay, Percy, Cole, Worrell, & Andretta, 2016;Prow, Worrell, Andretta, & Mello, 2016. These differences across profiles have been found in Germany, New Zealand, the UK, and the US.…”

“…Constructs related to time have been implicated in psychological functioning for more than seven decades (Andretta, Worrell, & Mello, 2014;Frank, 1939;Lewin, 1942). However, much of the research has focused on constructs related to the future, such as hope (Snyder, Lopez, Shorey, Rand, & Feldman, 2003), optimism (Scheier & Carver, 1985) and perceived life chances (Jessor, Donovan, & Costa, 1990).…”