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Adolescent Time Attitude Scale (ATAS)3

Adolescent Time Attitude Scale (ATAS) Test

Understand how a teen feels about their past, present, and future in about 6 minutes. Get clear insights to anticipate mood and behavior, spot strengths and barriers, and track progress over time.

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Questions: 306 minutes

08:30

October 2, 2025

October 2, 2025
Material has been updated

October 2, 2025
Material has been published

14,689 views

1,189 completions

1,019 likes

Verified by Daniel Hall

Psychologist with 25 years of experience

Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

example score

20/25

Negative Future (NF)

Measures how strongly a teenager holds negative expectations or worries about the future.

Low negativity

Moderate negativity

High negativity

5 – 11: Low negativity | 12 – 18: Moderate negativity | 19 – 25: High negativity

A score of 20 falls in the High negativity range, suggesting a pronounced tendency toward pessimistic or concerned expectations about what lies ahead.

example score

18/25

Positive Future (PF)

Measures how positively and confidently a teenager views their future.

Low positivity

Moderate positivity

High positivity

5 – 12: Low positivity | 13 – 19: Moderate positivity | 20 – 25: High positivity

A score of 18 indicates a moderately positive outlook, suggesting generally optimistic expectations about what lies ahead with some room for stronger confidence.

example score

17/25

Negative Present (NP)

Measures how strongly a teenager tends to view their present life and current experiences in a negative way.

Low negativity

Moderate negativity

High negativity

5 – 11: Low negativity | 12 – 18: Moderate negativity | 19 – 25: High negativity

A score of 17 falls in the Moderate negativity range, suggesting a noticeable tendency to evaluate the present unfavorably, though not at the highest intensity.

example score

8/25

Positive Present (PP)

Measures how positively a teenager feels about and is satisfied with their current life and present circumstances.

Low positivity

Moderate positivity

High positivity

5 – 11: Low positivity | 12 – 18: Moderate positivity | 19 – 25: High positivity

A score of 8 falls in the Low positivity range, suggesting relatively limited positive feelings or satisfaction with the present at this time.

example score

17/25

Past Negative (PN)

Measures how strongly a teenager holds negative feelings and evaluations about their past experiences.

Low negativity

Moderate negativity

High negativity

5 – 11: Low negativity | 12 – 18: Moderate negativity | 19 – 25: High negativity

A score of 17 falls in the Moderate negativity range, suggesting a noticeable but not predominant tendency to view past experiences negatively.

example score

18/25

Past Positive (PP)

Measures how positively a teenager views and feels satisfied with their past experiences.

Less positive

Moderately positive

Highly positive

5 – 12: Less positive | 13 – 19: Moderately positive | 20 – 25: Highly positive

A score of 18 indicates a moderately positive attitude toward the past, suggesting generally favorable memories with some mixed or less satisfying elements.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

Teens feeling stuck

41%OF USERS

Teenagers who feel down, unmotivated, or overwhelmed use it to understand whether negative views of the past, present, or future are shaping how they cope day to day.

Guidance and counseling students

34%OF USERS

Students in school counseling or therapy take it to give a clearer picture of what’s weighing on them and to track changes during support or interventions.

Goal-driven achievers

25%OF USERS

High-performing teens use it to check whether their time outlook supports healthy motivation and realistic planning rather than pressure or burnout.

BASED ON AGGREGATED, ANONYMIZED DATA FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FREUDLY USERS.

Benchmarking

See How You Compare

Once you complete the test, your results are compared with real-world data from people in your country.
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.

The future is negative (Tfin)

Average

11.2

Normal range

8.6 — 13.7

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

The future is positive (Tfip)

Average

Normal range

14.3 — 21.8

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

The present is negative (Tpin)

Average

15.5

Normal range

12 — 19

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

The present is positive (Tpip)

Average

13.3

Normal range

9.9 — 16.8

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Negative past (Np)

Average

19.3

Normal range

16.1 — 22.4

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

The past is positive (Tpip)

Average

Normal range

14.3 — 19.6

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

- Strongly disagree
- Disagree
- Neither agree nor disagree
- Agree
- Strongly agree
- Strongly disagree
- Disagree
- Neither agree nor disagree
- Agree
- Strongly agree
- Strongly disagree
- Disagree
- Neither agree nor disagree
- Agree
- Strongly agree

These are 3 of the 30 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

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WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

About This Assessment

Adolescent Time Attitude Scale (ATAS) Test - Symptoms and Signs

temporal perspective

This measure assesses adolescents’ attitudes toward the past, present, and future, with attention to positive versus negative appraisals across these time frames. The Adolescent Time Attitude Scale (ATAS) is intended to support a brief profile of time-related cognitions and affect that may be relevant to emotional functioning and behavior.

It consists of 30 items and typically takes about 6 minutes to complete. Results can be used to characterize relative strengths and concerns across temporal perspectives and to monitor change over time (e.g., in response to counseling, psychotherapy, or skills-based interventions). The Adolescent Time Attitude Scale (ATAS) may be considered in clinical, educational, or research settings when understanding an adolescent’s time perspective is clinically relevant.

Author: John N. Boyd, Philip G. Zimbardo

Literature: Zimbardo, P. G., & Boyd, J. N. Putting time in perspective: A valid, reliable individual-differences metric. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1999.; Worrell, F. C., Mello, Z. R., & Buhl, M. Introducing English and German versions of the Adolescent Time Attitude Scale. Assessment. 2013.