台大心理系

The life threatening COVID-19 pandemic has induced trauma-related and anxiety responses among the populations globally. Time attitudes, which refer to one’s feelings toward the past, present and future, have been associated with various psychological outcomes. People characterized by higher positive than negative time attitudes revealed more favorable outcomes than those with higher negative attitudes. However, little is known about the role of time attitudes on psychological adaptations when confronting adversity and traumas. The present study employed a person-centered approach and a two-wave prospective design to investigate whether people with different time attitudes profiles change differently in their PTSD symptoms and COVID-related fears from T1 (low risk stage) to T2 (the biggest COVID-19 outbreak in Taiwan). Participants were 354 adults, with a mean age of 27.79 years and 65.0% were female. Four time attitudes profiles were identified (Positives, Negatives, Past Negatives and Pessimists). The results showed that, at both waves, Positives had lower levels of PTSD symptom severity and COVID-related fears than most of the other groups, and the reverse was noted for Negatives. As for time effects, people across all profiles were significantly affected during the outbreak, but Negatives showed a greater increase in PTSD severity than other groups. In conclusion, mental health services may put efforts into early identifying those with highly negative time attitudes and implanting interventions that nudge people toward a more balanced or positive attitude to the past, present, and future, especially during adversity like the COVID-19 pandemic.