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Time attitudes and mental well-being, psychological, and somatic symptomatology in final year high school students

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Abstract

Research has shown that time perspective changes across the lifespan and recent studies have reported significant and meaningful associations between time perspective scores and scores on a range of mental, and physical health outcomes. In the present study, we examined the relationship between Time Attitudes (the affective dimension of time perspective) and mental well-being, as well as psychological and somatic symptoms in late adolescents, in a range of adjusted and unadjusted analyses. Participants were final year High school students (N = 3479 [40.9% Male]) in Northern Ireland. In line with a developing literature, time attitudes were operationalized through person-centred analyses: Cluster analysis yielded profiles, or time attitude categories, based on a six-factor index of attitudes toward the past, the present, and the future. Results supported those previously reported for younger adolescents, showing that higher mental-wellbeing, and both lower psychological and somatic symptomatology, were associated with membership of a Positive time attitudes profile. Further, these well-being constructs were positively associated with being male and reporting higher emotional self-efficacy. These results reported herein are in keeping with explanatory role of time attitudes in health and well-being outcomes among younger, and now older adolescents. We suggest that the next step in the investigation of time attitudes is to examine the extent (if at all) to which intervening with adolescents can nudge them towards a more positive appraisal of past, present, and future.

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Acknowledgements

This research was conducted as part of STAMPP which was funded by the National Institute for Health Research Public Health Research (NIHR PHR) Programme (project grant number 10/3002/09). This paper presents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Frank C. Worrell

  2. Bridgetown Psychological, Portland, OR, USA

    James R. Andretta

  3. School of Education, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA

    Kevin E. Wells

  4. Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

    Jon C. Cole

  5. Department of Psychology, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Beaux Lane House, Mercer Street, Dublin, Ireland

    Michael T. McKay

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  1. Frank C. Worrell
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Correspondence to Michael T. McKay.

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Ethical approval for this wave of data collection was given by Queens University Belfast, on March 20th 2017 - Ethics Review – ‘Extension of the Steps Towards Alcohol Misuse’.

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Worrell, F.C., Andretta, J.R., Wells, K.E. et al. Time attitudes and mental well-being, psychological, and somatic symptomatology in final year high school students. Curr Psychol 40, 4541–4552 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-019-00386-8

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