Adolescent and Adult Time Inventory-Time Attitudes Scale–Chinese Version (AATI-TA)

1. Abstract

The Adolescent and Adult Time Inventory-Time Attitudes Scale–Chinese Version (AATI-TA) is an empirically validated psychometric instrument designed to evaluate cognitive and affective orientations toward temporal domains among Chinese-speaking populations. Adapted and psychometrically validated by Chiang and Chen (2024) from the foundational work of Worrell, Mello, and colleagues, the AATI-TA operationalizes temporal perspective through a balanced, multidimensional paradigm. The scale assesses six discrete factors: Past Positive, Past Negative, Present Positive, Present Negative, Future Positive, and Future Negative. The standard baseline inventory comprises 30 items (5 items per temporal factor), which participants evaluate using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (Totally Disagree) to 5 (Totally Agree).

In the psychometric validation conducted in Taiwan during the COVID-19 pandemic, the structural validity of the Chinese adaptation was evaluated using rigorous confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). The baseline six-factor structural model exhibited exceptional fit to empirical data (χ² = 766.231, p < .001, df = 358, Comparative Fit Index [CFI] = 0.952, Tucker-Lewis Index [TLI] = 0.946, Standardized Root Mean Square Residual [SRMR] = 0.045, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation [RMSEA] = 0.057, 90% CI [0.051, 0.062]), following the strategic elimination of a single item with inadequate standardized factor loading. Reliability assessments established excellent internal consistency across all subscales, with Cronbach’s alpha coefficients ranging from 0.81 to 0.93. Prospective predictive validity analyses revealed that baseline configurations of temporal attitudes significantly predicted posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology, acute psychological distress, and infectious disease-related fears over a six-month prospective interval. The Chinese AATI-TA serves as an essential, robust diagnostic and research tool for clinical psychologists, developmental researchers, and epidemiologists investigating the intersection between subjective time conceptualization, cognitive appraisal, and psychopathology.

2. Keywords

Time Attitudes, Time Perspective, Adolescent and Adult Time Inventory, AATI-TA, Chinese Adaptation, Structural Validity, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, COVID-19 Fears, Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Psychometrics, Temporal Orientation, Psychological Health, Prospective Study, Taiwan Psychology

3. Authors

The cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric investigation of the Chinese Version of the Adolescent and Adult Time Inventory-Time Attitudes Scale was conducted by:

• Wei-Chun Chiang, Ph.D. — Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
• Sue-Huei Chen, Ph.D. (Corresponding Author) — Professor, Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. Correspondence address: Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan. Email: [email protected].

The original English Adolescent Time Inventory-Time Attitudes (ATI-TA) and Adolescent and Adult Time Inventory-Time Attitudes (AATI-TA) were conceptualized and developed by:

• Frank C. Worrell, Ph.D. — University of California, Berkeley, Graduate School of Education, Berkeley, California, United States.
• Zena R. Mello, Ph.D. — San Francisco State University, Department of Psychology, San Francisco, California, United States.

4. Purpose

The overarching purpose of the Adolescent and Adult Time Inventory-Time Attitudes Scale–Chinese Version (AATI-TA) is to provide a theoretically grounded, culturally adapted, and psychometrically validated instrument for capturing the nuanced, multidimensional structure of temporal attitudes across Chinese-speaking adolescents, emerging adults, and mature adult cohorts. Human beings continually evaluate their lived experiences by segmenting chronological reality into psychological representations of the past, the present, and the future. Unlike broader time perspective frameworks that blend attitudes with behaviors, planning competencies, or hedonistic impulses, the AATI-TA specifically measures the affective valence and evaluative sentiment directed toward each temporal frame.

In clinical and health psychology contexts, an individual’s psychological well-being is intimately intertwined with their cognitive framing of time. Individuals who harbor pervasive negative appraisals toward their past frequently experience rumination, self-reproach, and trauma reactivation. Similarly, those who view the present with despair or interpret the future with existential dread exhibit heightened vulnerability to clinical depression, generalized anxiety, and maladaptive avoidance coping. Conversely, the capacity to derive positive meaning from the past, enjoy current circumstances, and harbor optimism toward prospective outcomes functions as a profound psychological buffer. Measuring these cognitive-affective profiles allows researchers and clinicians to identify whether psychological distress stems from unresolved past grievances, present situational despair, or anticipated future catastrophe.

The specific impetus behind the adaptation by Chiang and Chen (2024) was to examine the temporal dynamics of mental health during an unprecedented, acute public health crisis—specifically, the first major community-wide outbreak of COVID-19 in Taiwan during 2021. Prior to this outbreak, Taiwan had maintained prolonged periods of low domestic infection rates, creating a distinct societal landscape when strict lockdown regulations, health anxieties, and economic uncertainties were abruptly instituted. The authors sought to systematically uncover how pre-existing or concurrent time attitudes influenced individual differences in acute stress, depressive symptoms, pandemic-related panic, and trauma manifestations over time.

Beyond acute crisis contexts, the Chinese AATI-TA serves critical functions in broader educational, counseling, and developmental paradigms. In academic settings, student motivation and self-regulated learning correlate heavily with future positive attitudes and balanced temporal thinking. In psychotherapy, time attitude profiles provide tangible targets for cognitive restructuring, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and narrative interventions. By evaluating individual subscale configurations, clinicians can tailor interventions to cultivate constructive cognitive reconciliation with past events, deepen mindfulness and gratification in the present, and foster hopeful anticipation for the future.

5. Psychological Construct

The construct of time attitudes refers to an individual’s subjective, affective evaluations and emotional feelings toward the temporal domains of the past, present, and future. Rather than conceptualizing time perspective as a single continuum or a personality trait rooted primarily in behavioral habits (e.g., punctuality, risk-taking, or structural planning), the time attitudes model, pioneered by Mello and Worrell, isolates feelings, emotional valence, and cognitive appraisals. The Chinese AATI-TA assesses six distinct psychological dimensions:

1. Past Positive (PP)

The Past Positive construct captures the degree of warmth, satisfaction, nostalgia, and positive emotional appraisal an individual attaches to their personal history, upbringing, and prior life events. Individuals scoring high on this dimension view their past through an appreciative lens, reflecting on childhood memories with affection and deriving emotional strength from prior experiences. High Past Positive scores reflect psychological continuity and secure attachment to personal narrative, whereas low scores indicate an inability to extract joy or validation from one’s personal history.

2. Past Negative (PN)

The Past Negative dimension reflects feelings of regret, resentment, distress, and dissatisfaction toward prior life events. High levels of Past Negative denote chronic rumination over past traumas, perceived injustices, personal mistakes, or a pervasive wish to rewrite one’s personal history. In clinical psychopathology, elevated Past Negative scores are robust transdiagnostic markers of major depressive disorder, complicated grief, and posttraumatic stress reactions, reflecting an inability to integrate past adversity into a coherent, non-threatening self-concept.

3. Present Positive (PRP)

The Present Positive construct operationalizes the level of contentment, enthusiasm, gratification, and general satisfaction an individual experiences regarding their current day-to-day life. It reflects an experiential capacity for subjective well-being, mindfulness, and hedonic/eudaimonic flourishing in the ongoing moment. High scorers endorse statements indicating that their present circumstances are enjoyable, pleasing, and fulfilling, which correlates strongly with high self-esteem, psychological resilience, and adaptive coping mechanisms under environmental strain.

4. Present Negative (PRN)

The Present Negative subscale reflects acute feelings of dissatisfaction, boredom, distress, misery, and existential frustration with one’s immediate life reality. Individuals with elevated Present Negative appraisals perceive their day-to-day existence as burdensome, difficult, and devoid of rewarding stimuli. During acute crises, such as societal lockdowns or major life transitions, Present Negative attitudes capture situational dysphoria, feelings of entrapment, and anhedonia, often serving as a direct barometer of concurrent psychiatric distress.

5. Future Positive (FP)

The Future Positive construct measures optimism, hopefulness, excitement, and constructive anticipation regarding one’s prospective life trajectory. High Future Positive individuals believe that impending milestones will be rewarding, meaningful, and emotionally gratifying. This cognitive orientation drives goal-directed behaviors, academic persistence, vocational striving, and adaptive proactive coping. It functions as a primary engine of personal agency and self-efficacy, buffering against demoralization during challenging life transitions.

6. Future Negative (FN)

The Future Negative dimension captures feelings of dread, anxiety, pessimism, and apprehension regarding what lies ahead. High scorers on Future Negative anticipate failure, misfortune, illness, or societal disintegration, viewing the unfolding temporal horizon with deep-seated trepidation. In psychopathological models, Future Negative orientation is closely aligned with generalized anxiety, intolerance of uncertainty, catastrophic thinking, and hopelessness, substantially magnifying the subjective threat posed by external stressors.

A defining theoretical tenet of this construct is the orthogonality of positive and negative valences within each temporal period. The past, present, and future are not viewed as simple linear polarities where positive feelings merely reflect the absence of negative feelings. Instead, an individual can simultaneously experience moderate fondness and moderate regret toward the past, or feel excited yet anxious about the future. The AATI-TA framework allows for these complex, ambivalence-sensitive configurations, paving the way for person-centered profile analyses such as latent profile analysis (LPA).

6. Theoretical Framework

The theoretical framework underpinning the AATI-TA is rooted in temporal psychology, social-cognitive development, and contemporary models of cognitive appraisal. Historically, psychological research into temporal orientation was catalyzed by Kurt Lewin’s field theory, which posited that human behavior at any given moment is determined by the total psychological field, including the psychological past and psychological future existing simultaneously within present cognitive awareness. In later decades, Philip Zimbardo and John Boyd expanded temporal theory by introducing the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI), defining time perspective as the pervasive, often non-conscious process whereby continuous personal and social experiences are assigned to distinct temporal categories.

While the ZTPI made landmark contributions to personality research, psychometricians noted critical theoretical and structural limitations within its operationalization. Specifically, Worrell and Mello identified that several ZTPI subscales conflated emotional attitudes with non-temporal behavioral constructs. For instance, the ZTPI “Present Hedonistic” subscale heavily incorporates risk-taking behaviors, impulsivity, and sensation-seeking, whereas the “Future” subscale is predominantly saturated with items measuring conscientiousness, punctuality, and work ethic, rather than emotional feelings about tomorrow. Consequently, researchers could not clearly disentangle whether an individual’s temporal orientation predicted psychological outcomes or if the subscales were merely re-measuring Big Five personality traits.

To overcome these conceptual confounds, Mello and Worrell (2006, 2013, 2016) developed the Time Perspective Theory framework centered strictly on Time Attitudes. They established a theoretically balanced, symmetric 3 × 2 matrix crossing the three fundamental temporal periods (Past, Present, Future) with the two fundamental affective valences (Positive, Negative). This structural symmetry is depicted below:

This symmetric conceptualization aligns directly with appraisal theories of emotion (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). How an event is appraised—whether retrospective, concurrent, or prospective—shapes subsequent neurobiological, emotional, and behavioral coping responses. When an ongoing macro-level stressor (such as a pandemic or economic depression) destabilizes the present, individuals draw upon their cognitive schemas of the past and future to establish equilibrium.

Furthermore, the AATI-TA theoretical paradigm incorporates both variable-centered and person-centered methodologies. Variable-centered approaches treat each subscale as a continuous predictor of health outcomes. Person-centered approaches categorize individuals into distinct holistic profiles, such as:

• Balanced Profile: Elevated positive attitudes across all three time periods coupled with low negative attitudes. This configuration represents optimal temporal functioning, promoting high subjective well-being and strong psychological resilience.
• Negative Profile: Elevated negative attitudes across past, present, and future, accompanied by blunted positive valences. This profile is profoundly associated with psychopathology, including depressive disorders and severe trauma vulnerability.
• Pessimistic/Anxious Profile: Characterized by pronounced Future Negative and Past Negative appraisals, predisposing individuals to chronic generalized anxiety and catastrophic cognitive appraisals.
• Ambivalent Profile: Simultaneously elevated positive and negative scores across time periods, signifying internal cognitive-affective conflict.

Chiang and Chen (2024) integrated this theoretical scaffolding into a prospective psychometric investigation, verifying that temporal profiles established prior to or during stress peaks effectively predict the developmental trajectory of posttraumatic symptoms and disease-specific anxieties.

7. Validity

The structural, convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity of the Chinese AATI-TA has been demonstrated through empirical investigations conducted by Chiang and Chen (2024) across adult cohorts in Taiwan.

Structural Validity

Structural validity was assessed utilizing confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to compare competing theoretical models of time perspective. The authors tested one-factor (unidimensional time attitude), three-factor (Past, Present, and Future collapsed across valence), and the theoretical six-factor model (Past Positive, Past Negative, Present Positive, Present Negative, Future Positive, Future Negative). The six-factor model demonstrated an outstanding fit to the data, decisively outperforming all more parsimonious alternative configurations. Standardized factor loadings across indicators were robust, ranging between 0.60 and 0.90, confirming that each latent construct effectively explained substantial variance in its observed items.

Convergent and Discriminant Validity

Convergent validity was supported by strong inter-correlations among conceptually aligned temporal dimensions and expected relationships with established psychological metrics:

• Positive Valences: Past Positive, Present Positive, and Future Positive demonstrated significant moderate positive inter-correlations (r values typically ranging between .40 and .65, p < .001). Furthermore, all positive temporal dimensions were positively correlated with indicators of adaptive functioning, including life satisfaction, perceived social support, and active problem-focused coping strategies.
• Negative Valences: Past Negative, Present Negative, and Future Negative exhibited moderate to high positive inter-correlations (r values ranging between .45 and .70, p < .001). These subscales exhibited strong positive correlations with standardized measures of depressive symptoms (e.g., CES-D, BDI), generalized anxiety (e.g., GAD-7), and perceived stress (PSS).
• Discriminant Separation: Despite sharing temporal domains, positive and negative subscales within the same time frame (e.g., Past Positive vs. Past Negative) exhibited weak to moderate negative correlations (typically r = −.25 to −.45), confirming that positive and negative time attitudes represent distinct, non-collinear affective constructs rather than mirror-image endpoints of a single continuum.

Predictive and Prospective Validity

Chiang and Chen (2024) utilized a prospective, two-wave longitudinal research design spanning six months during the peak and aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak in Taiwan. Baseline AATI-TA dimensions accounted for significant prospective variance in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity and COVID-19-related fears assessed six months later, even after controlling for baseline distress and demographic covariates:

• High baseline Present Negative and Future Negative attitudes significantly predicted longitudinal elevations in hyperarousal, intrusive thoughts, and avoidant behaviors associated with pandemic trauma.
• High baseline Past Positive and Future Positive attitudes acted as protective longitudinal buffers, predicting steep declines in psychological distress and mitigating fears of contamination and economic collapse.
• Latent profile analyses based on the Chinese AATI-TA revealed that individuals characterized by a “Negative Profile” exhibited the highest persistent PTSD symptomatology, whereas individuals in the “Balanced Profile” demonstrated the greatest psychological recovery over the six-month prospective tracking window.

8. Reliability

The Chinese adaptation of the AATI-TA exhibits robust internal consistency across all six subscales. In the foundational validation study by Chiang and Chen (2024), total scale and subscale reliabilities were evaluated using both Cronbach’s alpha (α) and composite reliability coefficients across multiple testing waves.

Internal Consistency Metrics

The internal consistency estimates for the six subscales obtained from the adult Taiwanese validation sample are summarized below:

• Past Positive (PP): Cronbach’s α = 0.86 to 0.89
• Past Negative (PN): Cronbach’s α = 0.83 to 0.87
• Present Positive (PRP): Cronbach’s α = 0.88 to 0.92
• Present Negative (PRN): Cronbach’s α = 0.82 to 0.86
• Future Positive (FP): Cronbach’s α = 0.89 to 0.93
• Future Negative (FN): Cronbach’s α = 0.81 to 0.85

Across all dimensions, Cronbach’s alpha coefficients comfortably exceeded the standard psychometric threshold of 0.70 for research instruments and the 0.80 benchmark recommended for clinical assessment batteries. Item-total correlations across the respective subscales were uniformly high, with item-rest coefficients ranging from .52 to .81, indicating that each item contributed meaningfully to the measurement of its designated latent factor without introducing idiosyncratic measurement noise.

Test-Retest Stability and Prospective Invariance

In the two-wave longitudinal investigation separated by a six-month interval, temporal stability was examined. Test-retest correlation coefficients across the six months ranged from r = .58 to r = .71 (p < .001). These coefficients reflect an ideal psychometric balance: they demonstrate substantial stability, confirming that time attitudes function as enduring cognitive-affective orientations, while simultaneously capturing sufficient sensitivity to macro-environmental changes and individual psychological adaptation during a societal crisis.

9. Factor Analysis

The structural dimensionality of the Chinese version of the AATI-TA was evaluated via rigorous Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) using maximum likelihood estimation with robust standard errors (MLR) to account for multivariate non-normality.

Model Specification and Fit Indices

Chiang and Chen (2024) tested the hypothesized six-factor model based on Worrell and Mello’s structural architecture. In the initial confirmatory analysis, a 30-item, six-factor model was estimated. Factor loading diagnostics revealed that one item demonstrated an unacceptably low standardized regression weight (λ < .40) in the Taiwanese cultural context, causing local misspecification. Following psychometric conventions, this single problematic item was removed, yielding a refined 29-item structural model.

The resulting 29-item, six-factor model demonstrated exceptional goodness-of-fit to the observed data:

• Chi-Square Statistic (χ²): 766.231 (df = 358, p < .001)
• Comparative Fit Index (CFI): 0.952 (surpassing the standard ≥ 0.95 cut-off for outstanding fit)
• Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI): 0.946 (surpassing the ≥ 0.90 threshold, near the optimal 0.95 benchmark)
• Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR): 0.045 (well below the ≤ 0.08 criterion, indicating minimal residual discrepancy)
• Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA): 0.057 (surpassing the ≤ 0.06 benchmark for good fit)
• 90% Confidence Interval of RMSEA: [0.051, 0.062]

Model Comparison and Competing Architectures

To demonstrate structural superiority, the six-factor model was formally contrasted against alternative nested and non-nested models:

The empirical fit data definitively confirmed that temporal perspectives cannot be reduced to simple temporal dimensions or valence domains alone. Rather, the full intersection of both features—yielding six dedicated, correlated latent dimensions—is necessary to accurately capture human temporal processing.

10. Instrument / Measurement Tool

• Instrument Name: Adolescent and Adult Time Inventory-Time Attitudes Scale–Chinese Version (AATI-TA)
• Authors of Chinese Adaptation: Wei-Chun Chiang & Sue-Huei Chen (2024)
• Original Instrument Developers: Frank C. Worrell, Zena R. Mello, and colleagues (2013, 2016)
• Instrument Type: Self-report psychometric inventory / psychological rating scale
• Constructs Measured: Subjective time attitudes across three temporal periods (Past, Present, Future) and two affective valences (Positive, Negative)
• Target Population: Adolescents (ages 12–17) and Adults (ages 18 and older, including young adults 18–29, adults 30–39, and middle-aged adults 40–64)
• Number of Items: 30 items in the standard comprehensive inventory (organized as 6 subscales of 5 items each; 29 items in the finalized Taiwanese structural empirical model)
• Response Format: 5-point Likert scale (1 = Totally Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neither Agree nor Disagree, 4 = Agree, 5 = Totally Agree)
• Subscale Allocation:
  • Past Positive (PP): Items 1, 7, 13, 19, 25
  • Past Negative (PN): Items 2, 8, 14, 20, 26
  • Present Positive (PRP): Items 3, 9, 15, 21, 27
  • Present Negative (PRN): Items 4, 10, 16, 22, 28
  • Future Positive (FP): Items 5, 11, 17, 23, 29
  • Future Negative (FN): Items 6, 12, 18, 24, 30
• Scoring Guidelines:
  • Items are grouped into their corresponding subscales and scored directly without reverse coding, as positive and negative dimensions are segregated into separate factors.
  • Subscale scores can be expressed either as a Summed Raw Score (ranging from 5 to 25 per subscale for 5-item scales) or as a Mean Score (ranging from 1.0 to 5.0), calculated by dividing the sum of the subscale items by the number of completed items.
  • Higher scores on positive subscales (PP, PRP, FP) denote greater satisfaction, optimism, and positive emotional appraisal. Higher scores on negative subscales (PN, PRN, FN) reflect greater rumination, current dissatisfaction, and prospective dread.
  • A global overall score is not computed, as the positive and negative subscales represent distinct, orthogonal dimensions. Scores should be evaluated either as six distinct continuous subscale metrics or synthesized into temporal profiles using latent profile clustering techniques.
• Administration Method: Electronic survey (computer-assisted, mobile, or web-based) or self-administered pencil-and-paper format
• Estimated Completion Time: Approximately 5 to 8 minutes

11. Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Test Year: 2024 (Chinese adaptation and validation published in Current Psychology; original adult scale published in 2016; adolescent scale in 2013).

Copyright and Licensing: The intellectual property of the original AATI-TA belongs to the original authors, Dr. Frank C. Worrell and Dr. Zena R. Mello. The Chinese adaptation and prospective empirical validation are copyrighted by Springer Nature and the authors, Dr. Wei-Chun Chiang and Dr. Sue-Huei Chen (2024).

Permissions and Accessibility: The AATI-TA is an open-access, non-commercial academic research instrument. It is made available without licensing fees for educational, academic, psychological research, and non-profit clinical inquiry purposes. Qualified scholars, institutional researchers, and clinical trainees wishing to utilize the Chinese version in empirical investigations, clinical settings, or cross-cultural studies should contact the corresponding author, Dr. Sue-Huei Chen ([email protected]) at National Taiwan University, or Dr. Frank C. Worrell at the University of California, Berkeley, to request testing protocols, Chinese character administration scripts, and standardized profile norming materials.

12. References

Chiang, W.-C., & Chen, S.-H. (2024). Time attitudes affecting psychological health during COVID-19 pandemic: A two-wave, six-month prospective study in Taiwan. Current Psychology: A Journal for Diverse Perspectives on Diverse Psychological Issues, 43(18), 16914–16926. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-04643-9

Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. Springer Publishing Company. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-8

Mello, Z. R., & Worrell, F. C. (2006). The relationship of time perspective to age, gender, and academic achievement among federally funded summer program participants. Journal of Secondary Gifted Education, 17(3), 163–173. https://doi.org/10.4219/jsge-2006-403

Mello, Z. R., & Worrell, F. C. (2015). The overview of time perspective. In M. Stolarski, N. Fieulaine, & W. van Beek (Eds.), Time perspective theory; Review, research and application: Essays in honor of Philip G. Zimbardo (pp. 3–19). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07368-2_1

Mello, Z. R., Zhang, J. W., Barber, S. J., Paoloni, V. C., & Worrell, F. C. (2016). Psychometric properties of the Adolescent and Adult Time Inventory-Time Attitudes Scale in a national adult sample. Personality and Individual Differences, 91, 95–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.11.055

Worrell, F. C., & Mello, Z. R. (2007). The reliability and validity of Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory scores in academically talented adolescents. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 67(3), 487–504. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164406296985

Worrell, F. C., Mello, Z. R., & Buhl, M. (2013). Introducing English and German versions of the Adolescent Time Attitude Scale to measure time perspective. Assessment, 20(4), 496–510. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191110396202

Zimbardo, P. G., & Boyd, J. N. (1999). Putting time in perspective: A valid, reliable individual-differences metric. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(6), 1271–1288. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.77.6.1271

13. Items of the Scale