Umeå University's logo

A major aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between time perspective, i.e., habitual ways of relating to the past, present, and future and sleep quality. A second aim was to test a model by which the expected negative relationship between deviation from a balanced time perspective (DBTP), a measure taking temporal biases across all three frames into account, and life satisfaction was mediated by poor sleep quality. To these ends, a sample of young adults (N = 386) completed a version of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (S-ZTPI), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). A measure of chronotype was in addition included for control purposes. Bivariate analyses revealed that the S-ZTPI subscales Past Negative, Future Negative, and Present Fatatlistic were associated with poorer sleep quality (higher PSQI scores), with significant associations in the opposite direction for Past Positive and Future Positive. However, DBTP was the strongest predictor of (poor) sleep quality, suggesting that time perspective biases have and additive effect on sleep quality. Regression analyses with PSQI as the dependent variable and alll six ZTPI subscales as the predictors indicated that time perspective accounted for about 20% of the variance in sleep quality (17% beyond chronotype), with Past Negative, Past Positive, and Future Negative as the unique predictors. The results additionally confirmed a strong relation between DBTP and life satisfaction. Finally, data were consistent with the hypothesis that the association of DBTP and life satisfaction is mediated, in part, by sleep quality. Taken together, the results confirmed a substantial link between time perspective and sleep-related problems, factors that may have a negative impact on life satisfaction. 

This study examined determinants of attitudes towards and use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in older adults, including variations in cultural context, socio-demographic factors (age, education, and gender) and the individual's time perspective. Towards this end, 638 older adults in Italy (n = 262, M = 71.7 years) and Sweden (n = 376, M = 69.9 years) completed the Swedish Time Perspective Inventory (S-ZTPI), the Attitude toward Technologies Questionnaire (ATTQ), and questions regarding use of specific digital technologies (e.g. Internet, Skype, Facebook); data were collected in 2013-2014. The results showed more positive attitudes toward ICTs in Swedish compared with Italian elderly as well as more frequent use of technologies. Regardless of nationality, younger age and higher levels of educational attainment was positively associated with attitudes towards ICTs. Male gender was associated with higher ATTQ scores in the Italian, but not in the Swedish, sample. Time perspective accounted for significant variance beyond the foregoing variables. S-ZTPI Past Negative, Future Negative and Present Fatalistic in particular, were (negatively) related to ATTQ scores, with a similar pattern for ICT use. Future Positive and Present Hedonistic were positively associated with ATTQ scores, across the samples. In conclusion, between-person differences in time perspective organization are an important factor to account for variability in attitudes towards and use of ICTs in old age, and appears to exert an influence over and beyond other significant predictors, such as cultural context, age/cohort membership, and educational level.

Objectives: To examine the extent to which time perspective, an individual’s habitual way of relating to the past, the present, and the future time frames, accounts for variations in self-reported depressive symptoms among older adults.

Method: Four hundred two participants (60–90 years) completed the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale (CES-D) and the Swedish Zimbardo Time perspective Inventory (S-ZTPI). The influence of personality as reflected by the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) and self-reported negative life events (NLEs) were controlled for in hierarchic regression analyses.

Results: The six S-ZTPI dimensions accounted for 24.5% of the variance in CES-D scores beyond age and gender. Half of the variance remained when the TCI factors and NLEs were controlled for. Past Negative, Future Negative, and Past Positive (inverse association) were the significant unique predictors. Significant age interactions were observed for two S-ZTPI dimensions, with a diminished association to depressive symptoms for Future Negative and a magnified association for Present Fatalistic with higher age.

Conclusions: The results demonstrate a substantial relation between facets of time perspective and depressive symptoms in old age. They also indicate an age-related shift in the relative importance from concerns about of the future (Future Negative) to the present (Present Fatalistic) with increased age. In young old-age, when the future is more ‘open’, future worries (Future Negative) may be a more frequent source of distress. In late senescence, perceived threats to autonomy (e.g. physical health problems and cognitive deficits), as reflected by higher scores on Present Fatalistic, may instead have more bearing on mood state.

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between mindfulness and aspects of time perspective (TP, i.e., habitual views of past, present, future).

Methods: We examined cross-sectional associations between an established measure of mindfulness (FFMQ) and an extended version of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (Swedish ZTPI; S-ZTPI) in a sample with little experience of mindfulness training (n = 212). In addition, we evaluated the effects of two mindfulness-based interventions (a mindfulness instructor course involving 29 participants and a mindful self-compassion program, n = 40 for the intervention group, n = 41 for controls) on mindfulness and measures of TP including an aggregate measure of deviations from a proposed optimal, or balanced, time perspective (DBTP).

Results: Cross-sectional data were consistent with a model by which part of the relationship between mindfulness and perceived stress is mediated by reduced DBTP. Global mindfulness scores showed the strongest (negative) associations with the S-ZTPI scales Future Negative and Past Negative. Comparisons of pre/post-intervention data revealed significant mindfulness-based intervention-related reductions of DBTP (Cohen’s d = − 0.46), with lowered scores on Past Negative and Future Negative and a small increase on Past Positive.

Conclusions: The results support the notion that a higher level of mindfulness promotes a more balanced time perspective, with a reduced focus on negative aspects of the past and negative anticipations of the future. Relations to repetitive negative thought processes (rumination, worry) and a potential bidirectional influence of mindfulness and aspects of time perspective are discussed.

Prior research indicates that time perspective (TP; views of past, present, and future) is related to decision-making style. By contrast, no prior study considered relations between TP and decision-making competence. We therefore investigated associations between dimensions of the Swedish Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (S-ZTPI) and performance on the Adult Decision-Making Competence (A-DMC) battery in a sample of older adults (60–90 years, N = 346). A structural equation model involving four A-DMC components as indicators of a general DMC factor and the six TP dimensions as the predictors revealed a significant negative association between the Present Fatalistic dimension and DMC. Given that age-related differences were apparent in DMC and that Present Fatalistic orientation increased with age, we tested a model by which the age-related differences in DMC were mediated by age-related differences in Present Fatalistic attitudes and in working memory. The results were consistent with full mediation of the age effects, with Present Fatalistic and working memory jointly accounting for a substantial amount of the variance in DMC (51%). The finding that DMC among older adults, in particular more cognitively demanding aspects such as applying decision rules, can be undermined by increased present fatalistic attitudes and declines in working memory is discussed in terms of theoretical frameworks highlighting the contribution of both motivational and cognitive factors to effective decision making.

This study investigated relations between general cognitive ability (g) and aspects of time perspective, i.e. habitual ways of relating to the past, present, and future, in a sample of older adults (60-90 years, N = 438). In main focus was a measure of deviations from a balanced time perspective (DBTP), reflecting the differences between proposed ideal and observed score profile on the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (S-ZTPI). A current g factor reflecting four cognitive markers was negatively related to DBTP (beta = -0.31), with a higher estimate (beta = -0.40) for a latent DBTP factor. For a subset of male participants (n = 129), cognitive test score from age 18 were retrieved. In that sample the g factor in youth predicted DBTP scores obtained around 52 years later (beta = -0.31, p < .01) nearly as well as current g (beta = -0.39). In line with prior studies, the Present Fatalistic dimension was a main source of the covariation of g and DBTP, but deviation scores for each of the three temporal frames (past, present, future) were significantly associated with g as well. Variations in recent stress did not account for these associations. Multi-group latent level analyses revealed a magnified g-DBTP association in old-old age (beta = -0.57 and beta = -0.81 in the old-old group for a latent DBTP factor), with a similar pattern for Present Fatalistic and Past Negative. Together, the results demonstrate a substantial association between g and time perspective in late adulthood, a relationship that may have been established early as judged from a relation to the age 18 g factor. A magnified association in in old-old age might reflect a more noticeable impact of age-related cognitive deficits on everyday functioning and thereby aspects of time perspective (e.g. increase present fatalism). Impairments in cognitive processes that allow for a flexible shift between temporal frames could also be factor, something which needs to be evaluated in future studies.

Background/Aim: Anxiety disorders are associated with impairments in several aspects of cognitive processing. In this study we investigated three such aspects, i.e., time perspective, repetitive negative thinking (worry and rumination),and executive functioning, in persons with anxiety disorders compared to healthy controls and examined the influence of negative past and negative future time perspective and executive functioning on worry and rumination.

Method: Thirty-six psychiatric outpatients with anxiety disorders (mean age = 30.83, SD = 11.74; 30 females and 6 males) and 44 healthy controls (mean age = 28.89, SD = 9.54; 24 females and 20 males) completed inventories of time perspective and repetitive negative thinking, and tasks measuring executive functioning (shifting and inhibition).

Results: The groups (patient vs. control) differed significantly on all time perspective dimensions (past, present, and future), with largest effect sizes observed for negative past and negative future. Regression analyses with executive functioning, negative past, and negative future time perspectives as predictors, and worry and rumination as outcomes, showed that negative past time perspective was the best predictor for rumination, whereas negative future time perspective more strongly predicted worry. Executive functioning was not a significant predictor of either worry or rumination.

Conclusions: Individuals with anxiety disorders demonstrated systematic biases in all time perspective dimensions, particularly negative past and negative future time perspective, which was further related to worry and rumination. Thus, interventions targeting temporal focus may be one way of reducing repetitive negative thinking. A major limitation of this study was the use of a cross-section design. 

This study examined the relation between perceived stress and time perspective (views of past, present, future) in a population-based sample of older adults (65-90 years, N = 340). The Perceived Questionnaire (PSQ index) was used to measure stress and the Swedish version of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (S-ZTPI) was used to operationalize time perspective. Unlike the original inventory, S-ZTPI separates positive and negative aspects of a future time perspective and we hypothesized that the Future Negative (FN) scale would be important to account for variations in stress. Additionally, associations with Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val(158)Met polymorphism were examined, motivated by prior associations of this single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) with stress (or "anxiety") related personality traits. In line with the hypotheses, FN was the strongest predictor of PSQ index scores in multiple regression analyses. In a related vein, the dichotomization of the unitary Future scale increased the association between PSQ scores and a measure of deviations from a balanced time perspective, i.e., the difference between a proposed optimal and observed ZTPI profile. Finally, higher levels of stress as well as higher scores on FN were observed in COMT Val/Val carriers, at least among men. This suggests a shared dopaminergic genetic influence on these variables. Collectively, the results demonstrate that perceived stress is closely linked to time perspective and highlight the need to take negative aspects of a future temporal orientation into account to understand this relation.

The current study investigates the relevance of positive attitudes toward Internet technologies for psychological well-being and social well-being in old age. A sample of 245 elderly people (Mean age = 70; SD =9.1) filled in the Psychological Well-Being Questionnaire, the Social Well-Being Questionnaire, and Attitudes Toward Technologies Questionnaire (ATTQ). Favorable attitudes toward Internet technologies showed positive correlations with overall social well-being and all its components with the exception of social acceptance. Positive correlations with overall psychological well-being and two of its components, namely, personal growth and purpose in life, were also found. Two hierarchical multiple regression models underscored that positive attitudes toward Internet technologies constitute the most important predictor of social well-being, and it appears to be a significant predictor for psychological well-being as well. Results are discussed and integrated into the Positive Technology theoretical framework that sustains the value of technological resources for improving the quality of personal experience and well-being.

Coordinating multiple tasks requires a high degree of cognitive control, and individuals with limited executive functions often show difficulties in everyday multitasking. We tested the hypothesis that demands on executive control can be alleviated by internally representing the temporal pattern of goals and deadlines as spatial relations. In two experiments, participants completed a multitasking session by monitoring deadlines of four clocks running at different rates, along with separate tasks of executive functioning and spatial ability. In Experiment 1, individual and gender-related differences in spatial ability (mental rotation) predicted multitasking performance, beyond the contributions of both the updating and inhibition components of executive functioning, and even when spatial cues were eliminated from the layout of the monitoring task. Experiment 2 extended these findings by showing that concurrent spatial load impaired task monitoring accuracy, and that these detrimental effects were accentuated when spatial abilities were compromized due to fluctuation in female sex hormones. These findings suggest that multiple task monitoring involves working memory-related functions, but that these cognitive control demands can be offloaded by relying on spatial relation processes.