What do temporal profiles tell us about adolescent alcohol use? Results from a large sample in the United Kingdom

The psychological construct broadly known as time perspective is potentially useful in understanding a range of adolescent behaviours, including alcohol use. However, the utility of the construct has been hindered by measurement and conceptual problems. To date the vast majority of studies have assessed the relationship between time perspective and other measures in a variable-focussed (correlational) rather than a person-centred way. The present series of studies used a person-centred approach to assess the relationship between temporal profiles and alcohol use in a large sample (n = 1620) of adolescents from High Schools in Northern Ireland. Although a ‘Balanced’ time perspective has been suggested as optimal, the present study suggests that having a ‘Future’ temporal profile is associated with less problematic use of alcohol, while having a ‘Past Negative’ or ‘Hedonist’ profile is associated with more problematic consumption. Results are discussed in the context of the time perspective and alcohol use literatures.