(PS3-27) Profiles of the Future Self: Evaluating Differences in Thoughts of the Future Self in Depression and Suicidal Ideation with Latent Profile Analysis

Abstract Text:

Background: A growing body of work is establishing the relevance of thoughts of the future self (FS) in precipitating and maintaining mental health disorder. Thus far, this work has evaluated the role of thoughts of the future self holistically, without considering how different dimensions such as vividness, valence, temporal distance, or connectedness may differentially present and interact across disorders. The interaction of these dimensions and the potential differentiation of patterns across disorder has great relevance to how we speak to and intervene on thoughts of the future in therapeutic practice. Thus a clearer understanding is critical. The present study aims to further prior work by seeking a nuanced understanding of the role of the future self in the onset and maintenance of mental health disorder. To this end I will evaluate relationships between the dimensions of thoughts of the future self to identify unique profiles thinking and evaluate whether unique associations exist with mental health disorder, with a specific focus on depression and suicidal ideation. 

Participants: The sample for this research is a sample of n = 248 18-24 year-olds (M = 21.84, SD = 1.76) in the United States recruited from Prolific Academic. Approximately half of the sample was assigned the biological sex of male at birth (49.6% assigned female sex). Gender identities were 48.8% male, 44.4% female, 2% trans male/trans man, .8% trans female/trans woman, 3.2% genderqueer/ gender non-conforming, and .8% a gender identity not listed. The sample identified as 55.6% White, 14.5% African American/Black, 7.3% Mexican American, 6% East Asian, 3.2% Southeast Asian, 3.2% Other Hispanic, Latinx, or Spanish origin, 2% South Asian, .4% Middle Eastern, and .4% American Indian or Alaska Native.  

Method: Participants responded to a single assessment battery assessing the future self and clinical outcomes. The vividness, valence, and connectedness of the future self was assessed using a measure developed by van Gelder et al. (2015). Temporal distance of the future self was integrated into the study design - participants answered the FS questionnaire at 1 week, 1 year, and 10 years. Clinical outcomes were measured by the Beck Depression Inventory-II, the Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation, the Beck Anxiety Inventory, the Brief Resilience Scale, and the Flourishing Scale. 

Analysis: A three-step latent profile analysis will be leveraged to differentiate profiles based on observed patterns across the dimensions of thoughts of the future self, and then to develop structural equation models using these latent profiles to identify associations between unique profiles and different mental health disorders. 

Conclusion:  This analysis will provide a more nuanced understanding of patterns of thoughts of the future self and their associations with clinical and well-being outcomes. Such an understanding will provide direction for targeted interventions and other therapeutic work.