Changes in Psychological Time Perspective During Residential Addiction Treatment: A Mixed-Methods Study

Abstract

Time perspective (TP) refers to an individual's subjective relationship to the past, present, and future. Zimbardo's Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI) is a scale designed to capture 5 distinct constructs of subjective temporality (Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999). It is regarded as a valid predictor of health-related choices and mental health. This mixed methodological study investigates psychological perspectives of time in a group of 63 individuals seeking help for alcohol/drug dependence issues who then successfully completed a group residential addiction treatment intervention. Measures of TP using a short-form ZTPI and a qualitative component were taken at preintervention and postintervention along with scores of depression and anxiety. Findings demonstrated that past-negative, present-fatalism, and present-hedonistic TPs were significantly positively associated with depression and anxiety. Significant negative relationships were found between mental health concerns and both past-positive and future TPs. Disti...