UC Berkeley

The purpose of the study was to (a) translate and validate the Adolescent Time Inventory-Time Attitude (AATI-TA) scale and (b) examine the relationship between profiles of time attitudes and important educational and psychological outcomes in a sample of 408 South Korean middle and high school students. The importance of time attitudes for an individual’s psychological functioning has been cited by several researchers. A psychological variable that has not been widely studied in time attitude research is problematic internet use (PIU), which is often associated with decreased academic, social, and emotional functioning. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the reliability and structural validity of the AATI-TA. Latent profile analysis of AATI-TA scores yielded four profiles, labeled Positives, Negatives, Ambivalents, and Present Positives. In keeping with previous research using the AATI-TA, Positives reported the most favorable psychological and academic outcomes, Negatives the least, and Ambivalent and Present Positives adolescents fell between these two groups. As expected, Positives reported the lowest PIU while Negatives reported the highest PIU (ω2 = .15). Regression analyses showed that an increase in negative feelings towards the present and future was associated with an increase in PIU (R2 = .13). These findings highlight the importance of general positive feelings about time and are in line with those of past researchers who argued that psychopathology seems to be more present-focused. The current study was the first to explore the relationship between time attitudes and PIU among adolescents. The findings not only contribute to the growing knowledge of the relevance of time attitudes for adolescent outcomes but also contribute to the growing research on interventions for PIU. Specifically, the results indicate that it may be beneficial to address negative feelings about the present and future and encourage adolescents to adopt a more positive time attitude in PIU interventions. This study also makes a unique contribution to the time attitude literature by establishing the reliability and validity of AATI-TA scores in a new cultural context. Future research should explore time attitudes and PIU in other countries and consider using other measures of education and psychological outcomes that are not self-report.