Time buffers teasing and lessens tobacco use: The moderating role of time perspective on bullying victimization and tobacco use in adolescents

Abstract

Bullying victimization is a prevalent and harmful experience for adolescents and is positively associated with risky behaviors, including tobacco use. We investigated a potential moderator for the associations between bullying victimization and tobacco use, namely time perspective, which refers to thoughts about time. Bullied adolescents may focus on past events more than present or future events, which could lead to less adaptive coping mechanisms in response to stress, such as tobacco use. Multiple time perspective dimensions and time periods (past, present, and future) were examined. Time orientation refers to the relative emphasis placed on a time period. Time relation refers to the perceived relationship among the time periods. Bullying victimization and tobacco use were self-reported. Participants included 758 adolescents (Mage = 15.81, SDage = 1.22; 54% female). Multiple linear regression analysis indicated that bullying victimization was positively associated with tobacco use. Moderated regression analyses indicated that perceiving all time periods as important (time orientation) and interrelated (time relation) buffered the positive association between bullying victimization and tobacco use in adolescents. Analyses controlled for demographics, sensation seeking, and stress. Results suggest that future research should examine the viability of time perspective-based interventions for bullying victimization and tobacco use in adolescents.