Poster #25 - Adverse Experiences Accentuate the Past: Negative Life Events and Time Perspective among Adolescents

• In Event: 1-115 - Poster Session 03
  In Poster Session: PS 03 Section - Cognitive Processes

Integrative Statement

Adolescents who experience negative life events may change the way that they think about time. Time perspective refers to thoughts and feelings about the past, present, and future, and is conceptualized to be a psychological cognitive-motivational construct (Mello & Worrell, 2015; Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999). Although there are no studies examining life events, specifically, research has examined low-socioeconomic status groups. Existing research has shown how time perspective is associated with socioeconomic status (SES; Agarwal et al., 1983; Andretta et al., 2013). These studies have indicated that low-SES adolescents are less likely to think about the future than their counterparts. It is possible that experiencing adversity is also associated with the past and present. However, research has yet to examine these topics. Thus, this study sought to extend our understanding of this area by addressing the following research question: how are negative life events associated with time perspective among adolescents?

Participants included 790 adolescents (Mage 15.8, SDage = 1.2) who were diverse in ethnic/racial group: 6% African American, 18% Asian American, 15% European American, 43% Latino, 18% more than one race/ethnicity or another racial/ethnic groups. Time perspective was measured with two scales. First, the Adolescent Time Attitude Scale (ATAS; Worrell et al., 2013) was used to assess positive and negative feelings about the past, present, and future. Second, the Time Orientation Scale (TOS; Mello et al., 2013) was used to assess one's emphasis toward the past, present, and future. The TOS consists of seven circle configurations with circles of varying size, with larger circles indicating an emphasis toward a particular time period (see Table 1). Negative life events were assessed using the Junior High Life Experiences Survey (JHLES; Swearingen & Cohen, 1985; alpha = .79). The JHLES is a self-report measure that consists of 39 negative, positive, and neutral items that ask whether adolescents have experienced certain life events.

Results indicated that positive and negative feelings about time were associated with negative life events (F [6, 605] = 5.02, p < .001): the past (r = -0.21, p < .001; r = 0.27, p < .001), present (r = -0.18, p < .001; r = .23, p < .001), and future (r = -0.16, p < .001; r = 0.23, p < .001). Further, as shown in Table 1, adolescents who were oriented toward the past experienced the most negative life events (M = 6.88, SD = 5.44), whereas adolescents who were oriented to both the present and future experienced the fewest (M = 3.95, SD = 3.23).

Overall, this study showed that time perspective was associated with negative life events among adolescents. We found that adolescents' feelings and orientations toward each time period were related to their experiences of negative life events. This research has implications for the professionals who work with adolescents. Specifically, interventions can be created to help adolescents who have experienced more negative life events shift their thinking about time so that they may have more positive outcomes in the future.

Authors

• Julie Chandler, San Francisco State University
  Presenting Author

• Zena R. Mello, San Francisco State University
  Non-Presenting Author