Time to get healthy: Associations of time perspective with perceived health status and health behaviors

Abstract

The present study examined the associations of time perspective (TP) with health behaviors including smoking, exercise, and body mass index (BMI), and perceptions of health status after controlling for sociodemographic factors. Participants (N = 413) completed a web-based questionnaire that included a short version of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory, and reported their weight, height, smoking, and exercise frequency. Future TP was associated with more physical exercise, whereas past-negative and present-fatalistic dimensions were associated with higher BMI. Smoking was not associated with any of the TP dimensions. Additionally, all of the dimensions of TP were found to be associated with conceptually relevant perceptions of health status. Research on TP predominantly focuses on the future and the present orientation, but the findings of the present study suggest that all dimensions of TP should be used in health-related research. Also, issues regarding the role of the present-hedonistic dimension are discussed and directions for future research are proposed.

Depressive symptoms and time perspective in older adults: associations beyond personality and negative life events

“…Studies utilizing the ZTPI have demonstrated that individual differences in time perspective in young adults are associated with a variety of important outcomes, such as risk taking (Jochemczyk, Pietrzak, Buczkowski, Stolarski, & Markiewicz, 2015), substance use (Keough, Zimbardo, & Boyd, 1999), and health-promoting behaviors (Griva, Tseferidi, & Anagnostopoulos, 2014); but also to aspects of psychological distress, such as anxiety and depression (van Beek, Berghuis, Kerkhof, & Beekman, 2011;. More specifically, Past Negative has been associated with anxiety, depression and neuroticism (van Beek et al, 2011; and Present Fatalistic has been related to depression .…”

The Time Is Ripe: Thinking about the Future Reduces Unhealthy Eating in Those with a Higher BMI

“…When CFC was considered as a two-factor construct in a sample of 800 English participants, a stronger present-time perspective as measured on the CFC-Immediate subscale was related to a higher body mass index (BMI) [ 4 ], and a similar effect has been found with less healthy eating in the Netherlands [ 7 ]. Less consistent results have been found with Zimbardo’s Time Perspective Inventory [ 8 ], with very few studies finding a relationship between time perspective and BMI [ 15 ], whereas others tend not to show any relationship [ 14 , 16 ].…”

Considering a healthy future : effects of time orientation on eating and exercising behavior

“…Finally, time perspective and consideration of future consequences are related to healthy eating attitudes, intentions, and behavior (Dassen et al, 2015;Gick, 2014;Joireman, Shaffer, Balliet, & Strathman, 2012;Luszczynska, Gibbons, Piko, & Tekozel, 2004;Mullan, Allom, Brogan, Kothe, & Todd, 2014;Piko & Brassai, 2009) and exercising attitudes, intentions, and behavior (Adams & Nettle, 2009;Griva et al, 2015;Hall & Epp, 2013;Hall & Fong, 2003;Joireman et al, 2012;Luszczynska et al, 2004;Stahl & Patrick, 2011;Wininger & DeSena, 2012).…”

“…This definition does not include an orientation toward the past. Although it is possibly beneficial to also focus on past orientation in future research (Griva, Tseferidi, & Anagnostopoulos, 2015), to date the majority of studies have focused on present versus future orientation. In this section we will discuss and compare three major conceptualizations of time orientation: discounting, time perspective, and consideration of future consequences.…”

“…Both time perspective and consideration of future consequences are related to a wide variety of behaviors (e.g., Joireman et al, 2006;Stolarski et al, 2015). Additionally, these constructs predict a range of health behaviors, including substance use (Keough, Zimbardo, & Boyd, 1999), drinking alcohol (Beenstock, Adams, & White, 2011), smoking (Adams, 2012;Adams & Nettle, 2009), preventive behavior (e.g., getting vaccinations and participation in screening, Crockett et al, 2009;Nan & Kim, 2014), body mass index (Adams, 2012;Adams & Nettle, 2009;Griva et al, 2015), healthy eating attitudes, intentions, and behavior (Dassen et al, 2015;Gick, 2014;Joireman et al, 2012;Mullan, Allom, Brogan, Kothe, & Todd, 2014;van Beek et al, 2013), exercising attitudes, intentions, and behavior (Adams & Nettle, 2009;Griva et al, 2015;Hall & Epp, 2013;Hall & Fong, 2003;Joireman et al, 2012;van Beek et al, 2013;Wininger & DeSena, 2012), and perceived health status (Griva et al, 2015).…”