Time Attitude Profiles and Risky Behaviors Among Adolescents in the United States and Germany

Abstract

We used a person-centered approach to examine associations among time attitude profiles –positive and negative feelings about the past, present, and future – and risky behaviors. Participants were adolescents from the U.S. and Germany. The U.S. sample included 742 participants (MAge = 15.71; 53.6% female). The German sample included 610 participants (MAge = 14.75; 51.4% female). Latent profile analyses supported three more adaptive (Positive, Balanced, and Optimists) and two less adaptive (Ambivalent, Extremely Past Negative) time attitude profiles in both samples. In the U.S., adolescents in the Positive profile reported fewer risky behaviors than their counterparts. In Germany, adolescents in the Extremely Past Negatives profile reported more risky behaviors than their counterparts. Findings support the investigation of time attitudes as a meaningful correlate of risky behaviors in adolescents and across cultures.