title: Back to the Consideration of Future Consequences Scale: time to reconsider?
abstract: The Consideration of Future Consequences (CFC) Scale is a measure of the extent to which individuals consider and are influenced by the distant outcomes of current behavior. In this study, the authors conducted factor analysis to investigate the factor structure of the 12-item CFC Scale. The authors found evidence for a multiple factor solution including one completely present-oriented factor consisting of all 7 present-oriented items, and one or two future-oriented factors consisting of the remaining future-oriented items. Further evidence indicated that the present-oriented factor and the 12-item CFC Scale perform similarly in terms of internal consistency and convergent validity. The structure and content of the future-oriented factor(s) is unclear. From the findings, the authors raise questions regarding the construct validity of the CFC Scale, the interpretation of its results, and the usefulness of the CFC scale in its current form in applied research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Policy & Management, Institute for Medical Technology Assessment, Erasmus University Medical Center, P.O. Box 1738, 3000DR, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. rappange@bmg.eur.nl
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Rappange
authors.forename: Werner B F
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Brouwer
authors.forename: N Job A
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: van Exel
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D002648:Child; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D010551:Personality; D011581:Psychological Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013997:Time Factors