Time perspective as a predictor of psychological distress

In 2012, there were an estimated 43.7 million adults in the United States that had a diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder (US Department of Health and Human Services [HHS], 2013). Given the large frequency of disorders, it is beneficial to learn about what factors influence psychological distress. One construct that has been increasingly examined in association with mental disorders is time perspective. The current study will investigate whether or not time perspective, as measured by the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI), has a unique contribution to the prediction of psychological distress. Studies have shown that time perspective has been related to psychological symptomology. Also, previous studies have shown that time perspective has been related to the constructs of neuroticism and negative affect, which have also been shown to be related to psychological distress. I also included the deviation from an optimal time perspective (DOTP) as a predictor separate from the ZTPI scales. So, I investigated whether or not time perspective has a unique influence on psychological distress when controlling for the previously mentioned related constructs. I also controlled for gender and age by including them as covariates in the regression analyses. I found that the past positive sub-scale and DOTP were significant predictors of psychological distress. Implications of these findings are discussed.