title: What do temporal profiles tell us about adolescent alcohol use? Results from a large sample in the United Kingdom.
abstract: The psychological construct broadly known as time perspective is potentially useful in understanding a range of adolescent behaviours, including alcohol use. However, the utility of the construct has been hindered by measurement and conceptual problems. To date the vast majority of studies have assessed the relationship between time perspective and other measures in a variable-focussed (correlational) rather than a person-centred way. The present series of studies used a person-centred approach to assess the relationship between temporal profiles and alcohol use in a large sample (n = 1620) of adolescents from High Schools in Northern Ireland. Although a 'Balanced' time perspective has been suggested as optimal, the present study suggests that having a 'Future' temporal profile is associated with less problematic use of alcohol, while having a 'Past Negative' or 'Hedonist' profile is associated with more problematic consumption. Results are discussed in the context of the time perspective and alcohol use literatures.
authors.affiliation: Center for Public Health, Liverpool John Moores University, United Kingdom. Electronic address: Michael.Mckay@liverpool.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Michael T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: McKay
authors.affiliation: Child Guidance Clinic, Superior Court of the District of Columbia, USA.
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Andretta
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ulster, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Magee
authors.affiliation: Cognition and Development, University of California, Berkeley, USA.
authors.forename: Frank C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Worrell
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009660:Northern Ireland / Q000453:epidemiology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Alcohol use; Temporal profiles; Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory