Using the Adolescent Time Inventory—Time Attitudes (ATI-TA) to assess time attitudes in Italian adolescents and young adults: Psychometric properties and validity

Abstract

Time attitudes (TA) are evaluative feelings toward the past, present and future. Given the role of TA in psychological and behavioral outcomes, the aim of this study was to analyze the adequacy of the Adolescent Time Inventory—Time Attitudes (ATI-TA) scale among adolescents and young adults in Italy. The scale was administered to 638 students in order to test its psychometric properties and validity. The analyses confirmed the adequacy of the six-factor model and the reliability of the subscales. Additionally, the measurement invariance of the scale across genders and age groups (between adolescents up to the age of 18, and young adults above 18) was demonstrated. Specifically, gender invariance reached the level of equivalence of error variances/covariances, and the same level was partially reached for invariance across age groups. Evidence of the validity of the scale was also provided by obtaining significant correlations between the subscales, and self-esteem and strategic learning. Taken together, these results support the suitability of the ATI-TA to be used for research and clinical purposes.

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

“…Internal consistency estimates ≥ .70 have been consistently reported for five of the six AATI-TA scores, with future negative scores having lower estimates in some samples (Worrell et al, 2020). Additionally, evidence in support of the hypothesized six factor structure has been reported for samples from the United States (Mello et al, 2016;Worrell et al, 2013), Germany (Buhl & Lindner, 2009;Worrell et al, 2013), New Zealand (Alansari et al, 2013), the United Kingdom (Cole et al, 2017;, Turkey (Çelik et al, 2017;Şahin-Baltaci et al, 2017), Albania (Worrell et al, 2020), Nigeria (Mello et al, 2019), Italy (Donati et al, 2019;Worrell et al, 2020), and Japan (Chishima et al, 2019).…”

“…Scores on the six-factor structure have shown scalar invariance between younger and older adolescents in Spain on the short version (Konowalczyk et al, 2018), between adolescents and young adults in Italy (Donati et al, 2019) using the full 30-item scale, and between young and middle-aged adults in the US for five scales (excluding future negative; Mello et al, 2016). The sixfactor have also been shown scalar invariance by gender (Konowalczyk et al, 2018; and configural invariance over a 2-year period .…”

“…We hypothesized that AATI-TA scores would be reliable and the theorized 6-factor structure would yield acceptable fit estimates. We also hypothesized that the scores would be invariant across gender and developmental period as reported in Italy (Donati et al, 2019) and Spain (Konowalczyk et al, 2018).…”

“…The subscale scores have generally been found to be internally consistent , with some exceptions for Future Negative scores (e.g., Şahin-Baltaci et al, 2017). AATI-TA scores have demonstrated scalar invariance across males and females, younger and older adolescents, and adolescents and young adults (Donati et al, 2019;Konowalczyk et al, 2018).…”

“…The six-factor solution yielded better fit to the data than the competing models based on valence and time periods. This finding replicates results reported in other studies differing in language and culture (e.g., Alansari et al, 2013;Buhl & Lindner, 2009;Çelik et al, 2017;Chishima et al, 2019;Cole et la., 2017;Donati et al, 2019;Juriševič et al, 2017;Konowalczyk et al, 2018;Mello et al, 2016Mello et al, , 2019Şahin-Baltaci et al, 2017;Worrell et al, 2013Worrell et al, , 2020. The strength of coefficients is another highlight of the measure, as all but three items had coefficients higher than .65 on their latent variable.…”