Received 03/25/10

Revised 11/22/10
Accepted 11/30/10

Global Visions

Evaluation of an Intervention to
Foster Time Perspective and
Career Decidedness in a Group of
Italian Adolescents
Lea Ferrari, Laura Nota, and Salvatore Soresi
A structured 10-didactic unit intervention was devised to foster adolescents' time
perspective and career decidedness. The study was conducted with 50 adolescents
who were selected from a group of 624; 25 of the participants were randomly assigned to the control group and 25 were assigned to the experimental group. They
were selected according to their level of career indecision and poor propensity' to
look to the future. A series of repeated measure analyses of variance were carried
out to evaluate pre- and posttest differences between the experimental and control
groups regarding time perspective and career decidedness. At posttest, the experimental group showed higher levels of continuity, hope, and career decidedness than
did the control group. Implications for future practice and research arc discussed.
Keywords: time perspective, career decidedness, career adaptability

The aim of this study was to describe and evaluate the efficacy of an
intervention that was devised to enhance young adolescents' time perspective and career decidedness. These two dimensions are components
of career adaptability and have a crucial role in career designing (Savikas
et al., 2009).
Time perspective is defined by sense of continuity, optimism, and future orientation (Savickas, 1997). Garstensen (2006) asserted that time
perspective has a positive impact on motivation, cognition, and emotion,
and it is linked to goal selection and goal pursuit. Savickas (1991) and
Ringle and Savickas (1983) considered a sense of continuity among past,
present, and future a more cognitive component of time perspective,
and optimism a more affective component. Gontinuity sustains planning
skills and optimism refers to a sense of confidence in the achievability
of goals. Greed, Patton, and Bartrum (2002) reported that Australian
students with a higher level of optimism had more career goals, were
more decided about their career choice, and showed higher levels of
career planning and exploration. Students with high pessimism showed
lower career and decision-making knowledge, higher career indecision,
and lower school achievement.
Lea Ferrari, Laura Nota, and Salvatore Soresi, Department of Developmental
Psyeholoy and Socialization, University ofPadtta, Padua, Italy. Correspondence
concernin this article shotM be addressed to Lea Ferrari, Department of Developmental Psycholoy and Socialization, University of Padua, Via Belzoni 80, 35121
Padova, Italy (e-mail: lea.ferrari@unipd.it).
2012 by the National Career Development Association. All rights reserved.

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For Savickas (1997), time perspective is a core component of career

adaptability, which is defined as "the readiness to cope with the predictable tasks of preparing for and participating in the work role and with the
unpredictable adjustments prompted by the changes in work and work
conditions" (p. 254). The propensity to look to the future, acknowledging
the right to make decisions to build one's own future, looking around to
explore career opportunities, and building up a sense of self-efficacy in
problem solving contribute to forming the critical dimensions of vocational
development over the life span (Hrtung, Porfeli, & Vondracek, 2008;
Savickas, 2005). These aspects, which begin developing in childhood
and then consolidate in adolescence, are an integral part of career adaptability. According to Savickas, career adaptability can be also described
as a development of the concept of career maturity. If the latter can be
seen as a predictable and linear continuum of developmental tasks, career
adaptability underscores the ability to see the signs of change and adjust
to respond to new requests from the environment (Savickas, 1997). Hirschi (2009) showed that career adaptability was related to positive youth
development, including higher levels of well-being and quality of life.
Propensity to look to the future in an optimistic way was studied in
relation to career maturity. Janeiro and Marques (2010) found that
propensity to look to the fiature was positively correlated with career
maturity, operationalized as career planning and exploration in Portuguese
adolescents. Janeiro (2010) also observed the impact of time perspective
on career maturity in ninth and 12th graders.
Being oriented toward the future, sensing a connection between present activities and future outcomes, and adopting an optimistic attitude
seem particularly significant in today's world of work, which, as Fouad
and Bynner (2008) highlighted, requires people to face transition periods more often than in the past and to be ready for niture requests.
However, many individuals in our complex society unfortunately do
not orient themselves toward the future and seldom, if at all, think
about how their careers could evolve (Creed & Patton, 2003; Nota,
Soresi, Solberg, & Ferrari, 2005). Peetsma, Hascher, van der Veen,
and Roede (2005) emphasized that older adolescents focused more on
their personal development and leisure time than they focused on their
school or career choices. Recently, Ferrari, Nota, and Soresi (2010)
showed that Italian adolescents, particularly around the ages of 16 and
17 years, rarely thought of how their professional life could develop.
Many of them were often engaged in exploring the self and the reality
surrounding them but seemed especially concerned about the here and
now, neglecting to determine the consequences that such a focus may
have on their future. Among these adolescents, the undecided and those
with low-efficacy beliefs in their own decisional abilities showed even
lower levels of future orientation, continuity, and optimism.
Another variable that we considered was career indecision, which is
the inability to select a professional option and the inability to engage
in choice (Tokar, Withrow, Hall, & Moradi, 2003). Indecision has long
been linked to career maturity; in 1994, Rojewski reported that moredecided youth were also more mature. In studying change over time in
career planning and exploration among high school students. Creed,
Patton, and Prideaux (2007) found significant associations with career
decision status: Students with higher levels of career indecision reported
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engaging in more career planning and exploration over time. Creed,

Falln, and Hood (2009) found that career decision making together
with career planning, career exploration, and self-regulation represented
a second-order factor of career adaptability.
More recently, Savickas et al. (2009) suggested a life-designing model
in which youth are assisted in building their lives by positively considering their future. People should be helped to strengthen ability to find
points of connections between past experiences, present life, and future
expectations. This implies thinking of themselves as persons involved
in processes of professional development and career advancement, to
understand professional enhancement and progress, and to be aware of
the social and relational aspects that may affect professional development
(Marko & Savickas, 1998; Savickas, 2005).
Savickas (2002), in particular, maintained that to increase optimism
and ability to project into the future, the following should be done by
counselors: (a) work on strengthening individuals' abilities to make new
experiences and grasp any opportunities offered by their setting; (b)
develop decisional abilities and abilities to set educational and career
goals that can allow the acquisition of increasingly greater control on
school-career choices; (c) increase vocational knowledge and aspirations
by exploring the school-career options one is interested in; and (d)
encourage agency and persistence behaviors by increasing self-efficacy,
problem-solving abilities, and abilities to cope with barriers.
With these suggestions in mind, we devised the training called "Hopes
and Expectations for the Future," the goal of which is to encourage adolescents to look toward the fiiture, increase their perception of alternative
options and scenarios, and acquire decision-making and planning strategies. The intervention was devised for students with low levels of time
perspective and career decidedness who were randomly assigned either to
the experimental or to the control group. At posttest, the experimental
group was expected to show higher levels of continuity, optimism, and
hope and higher career decidedness than the control group.

Method
Participants
During the first phase of the intervention, 6 2 4 adolescents participated;
2 6 4 were boys and 360 were girls ( M a g e = 16.26 years, SD = 0.55) w h o
were attending vocational guidance activities organized by the school. As
part of the activities, students voluntarily completed a battery of measures
in group testing sessions. We considered this to be a convenience sample.
T h e activities included (a) administration of a battery of instruments,
wbicb were tbe Long-Term Personal Direction Scale ( L T P D ; Wessman,
1 9 7 3 ) , the Achievability of Future Goals Scale (AFG; H e i m b e r g , 1961),
the Flope Scale (Snyder et al., 1991), Ideas and Attitudes on SchoolCareer Future: H i g h School version (IASCF; Soresi & Nota, 2 0 0 3 ) ; (b)
issuing a personalized printout that would explain to each student bis or
ber profile and provide suggestions and possible options; and (c) individual
counseling for students wbo requested it.
T h e data collected with these adolescents allowed us to identify those
w h o had below-average scores as regards levels of h o p e , optimism and
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propensity toward the fiature (dme perspective), and school-career indecision. The students who had scores 1 SD below the mean were identified
and 50 participants were selected. These participants recorded lower
scores than the other 574 adolescents on the LTPD, f ( l , 623) = 4.002,
p = .046; the AFG, i'(l, 623) = 140.945, p = .001; the Hope Scale, P ( l ,
623) = 4.322, p = .038; and the IASCF, i='(l, 623) = 3.911, p = .048.
Considering only the gender variable, the 50 adolescents (38 girls, 12
boys; Mage = 16.20, SD = .60) were randomly assigned to either the
experimental or the control group. The experimental group was made up
of 6 boys and 19 girls (Mage = 16.20, SD = 0.61) and the control group
was comprised of 6 boys and 19 girls (Mage = 16.21, SD = 0.60). No
significant differences were recorded between the experimental and the
control group as regards the variables gender, x^(l) = 0.739, and age,
^(1, 49) = 0.099, p = .755, and the measures considered in the study,
LTPD, i'(l, 49) = 0.384, p = .538; AFG, P(l, 49) = 0.008, p = .931;
Sense of Agency, F{1,49) = 0.329,/= .569; Pathways, F{1,49) = 0.364,
p = .549; and Level of Decision and Assurance Related to One's SchoolCareer Future, F{1, 49) = 0.615, p = .437.
While the experimental group was taking part in the study, the control
group continued with normal school work.
Measures
The LTPD (Wessman, 1973) measures eognidve beliefs about connecdons
between past, present, and fiature behavior (eondnuity). Posidve items reflect
a sense of eondnuity of past, present, atid iture as well as motivation for
and commitment to long-term goals. Negadve items reflect unstructured
and fragmented concepdon of dme widi absence of aims and direction. The
20 items of the instrument are rated on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from
not at all descriptive ( 1 ) to perfectly descriptive (7). The instrument was first
translated into Italian, following Van de Vijver and Hambleton's (1996)
suggesdons for the transladon of tests in cross-cultural research, and was
then back translated. Principal component analysis with subsequent oblimin
rotadon showed that the Italian version for high school students (Ferrari
et al., 2010) included 18 items and revealed the presence of three factors
accoundng for 47.23% of the total variance. The first factor was Sense of
Condnuity (nine items, e.g., "I plan much of my life around a few main
goals"), die second factor was Structured Concepdon of Time (six items,
e.g., "I feel that dme is broken, fi-agmented, and without direcdon"), and
the third factor was called Projecdon Into the FuUire (three items, e.g., "I
move in an orderly way toward goals set long ahead of dme"). Consistent
with Wessman's (1973) findings, most items could be included in the first
and second factors. However, in the Italian version, three items make up a
third factor, which did not appear in the original version of the scale. The
total scale internal consistency alpha was .79; the first, second, and diird
alpha values were .82, .77., and .61, respecdvely. In line with Marko and
Savickas (1998) and Savickas, Silling, and Schwartz (1984), die total scale
score was used to assess condnuity.
The AFG (Heimberg, 1961) measures affective evaluation of the future (opdmism). The measure consists of eight items rated on a 7-point
Likert scale ranging from not at all descriptive ( 1 ) to perfectly descriptive
(7). This same procedure described was followed for the translation of
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85

the instrument. The Italian version for high school students (Ferrari et
al., 2010) included six items and confirmed the presence of a principal
component, accounting for 46.78% of the total variance. The total scale
internal consistency alpha was .74.
The Hope Scale (Snyder et al., 1991) measures positive motivational
state and consists of^l2 items that are rated on a 4-point Likert scale that
ranged from definitely false {\) to definitely true (4). The same procedure
was followed for the translation of the instrument. Principal component
analysis with subsequent oblimin rotation showed that the Italian version
for high school students (Ferrari et al., 2010) included eight items and
produced two factors that accounted for 52.25% of the total variance.
The first factor comprised four items (e.g., I energetically pursue my
goals), accounting for 39.51% of the total variance and was called Sense
of Agency. It appeared to measure a more affective aspect of nature orientation. The second factor comprised items (e.g.. There are lots of ways
around any problem), accounting for 12.73% of the total variance and was
called Pathways. It appeared to measure a more cognidve aspect of fiiture
orientation. These results support Snyder et al.'s (1991) findings and the
factors coincide. The total scale internal consistency alpha was .77; the
first and second alpha values were .64 and .71, respectively.
The IASCF (Soresi & Nota, 2003) is a standardized questionnaire that
is used to measure career indecision. The measure is derived from the
work of Jones (1989) and Saviekas and Jarjoura (1991) and is a 16-item
self-report instrument that asks participants to rate on a 7-point scale (1
= does not describe me at all, 7 = describes me very well) the extent to which
each statement describes their usual way of thinking and behaving. A series
of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses provided support for a
three-factor structure, accounting for 60.86% of the total variance (Soresi
& Nota, 2003). The first factor was Level of Decision and Assurance
Related to One's School-Career Future (LDASCF, 10 items; e.g., I have
decided what to do and I am sure I have chosen well). The second factor
was Level of Locus of Control Associated With Professional ProblemSolving (internality; LoC, four items; e.g.. It is useless to devote time
to professional goals. What an individual will do actually depends on so
many other factors). The third factor was Ability to Gather Information
Usefi.ll to Making a Choice (AGI, two items; e.g., I know how to get the
information I need). Scale scores were obtained by summing item response
scores corresponding to each of the three factors, after reversing the scores
of negatively worded items. Soresi and Nota (2003) reported adequate
internal consistency reliability estimates, with alpha values for the three
factors of .92, .71, and .67, respectively. In this study, we decided to use
only the first factor, which measures level of decidedness.
Procedure
The adolescents of the experimental group were administered the training, which comprised 10 weekly meetings of 2 hours each, during the
school year. The training program was conducted by a career counseling
psychologist, who was unaware of the research aims and of the hypotheses about training efficacy. Posttest data were collected 3 weeks after
the conclusion of the intervention, specifically, 4 months after pretest
data were collected.
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At every meeting, participants received didactic material (a student

manual) and were trained to discuss and practice the proposed skills in
order to stimulate reflection, increase awareness, and help trainees acquire
them. Teaching techniques included trainer explanation of concepts, class
discussion, individual and group exercises, atid feedback. As suggested by
Brown and Ryan Krane (2000), special emphasis was placed on written
exercises, individualized interpretation and feedback, information on
the world of work, modeling opportunities, and attention to building
support for choices within one's social network. During the meetings,
participants were asked to write down their reflections and complete
exercises about personal situations. They were also given personalized
feedback and were encouraged to look for sources of support individuals
who could provide support.
Each meeting was based on a goal described as the conditions of the
context in which a given skill was to be applied, performance, and a mastery
criterion of expected student performance at end of the unit. Specifically,
participants were asked to answer 10 multiple-choice questions on the
issues focused on in the meeting. Mastery criterion was achieved if the
student correctly answered eight of 10 questions; additional meetings
were planned for students who had not been successful. As suggested
by Kidd and Killeen (1992) in the evaluation of developmental guidance
intervention, the use of learning outcomes as mastery criteria is appropriate
because they are relatively easy to assess and help to determine whether
learning has occurred. Subsequently, in line with suggestions proposed by
Heppner, Baumgardner, Larson, and Petty (1988), all participants were
invited to write down their thoughts and reflections on what had been
dealt with in the meeting. Program aims, phases, teaching techniques and
sequences, and examples to be used during training were described for
each meeting in a trainer's manual (the treatment manual).
The Time Perspective Intervention
This structured 10-didactic unit intervention was designed to increase
future time perspective and enhance career decidedness.
In the first meeting, the activity was illustrated and the importance of
active participation and of doing the assigned homework was emphasized.
Students signed a contract as recognition of the importance of their active
participation during meetings and of die homework.
In the second meeting, using Janis and Mann's (1977) theory of
decisional conflict, the issue of decision was addressed. The students
were given research data that demonstrated how some decisions, some
of which concerned one's future, are more complex than others and
are therefore more worrisome, associated with higher levels of risk, and
need more time and effort to be handled efficaciously. The discussion
with the students focused also on the fact that such decisions sometimes
depended on the individual's ability to take into account social factors
such as expectations, requests, and pressures from others (e.g., family,
teachers, and friends). The students were then asked to analyze their
personalized report on decisional levels.
During the third meeting, we explained to students the key concepts
of Krumboltz's theory of planned happenstance (Krumboltz & Levin,
2004; Mitchell & Krumboltz, 1996), which emphasizes that in life, some
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chance events just happen and others happen if favorable conditions are
created. We pointed out that people can capitalize on chance events if
they have an open mind, are curious, and are persistent, but also if they
are optimistic and are willing to take risks. During the second part of
the meeting, we focused on the definition of interest and of self-efficacy
beliefs and on their connections. The students were encouraged to refiect
on their interests and on their self-efficacy beliefs.
In the fourth meeting, making reference to the work of Peterson,
Sampson, Reardon, and Lenz (1996), Amundson (1997), and Mitchell
and Krumboltz (1996), we introduced the issue of irrational ideas. After
examining the students' own definitions (ideas based on stereotypes,
hearsay, or pessimistic ideas) and analyzing examples of irrational ideas,
we encouraged students to discuss the consequences of sticking to irrational ideas, such as reduced possibility of choice and perception of
dissatisfaction. The students were urged to transform some irrational
ideas by using a variety of strategies (e.g., reformulation, searching for
valid and reliable data). The fifth meeting, which followed an analysis of
the "reformulated" irrational ideas on which the students had reflected,
focused on environmental factors that are likely to infiuence the choice
process, interests, efficacy beliefs, and irrational ideas. The students were
invited to think back to their past and to assess how such factors might
have affected their life and the way they were now. We also asked them
to identify individuals who might be actual supports for their career
project and to find ways to plan such a project.
During the sixth meeting, based on the work of Betz and Hackett
(1981) and Gallagher and Kaufman (2005), we encouraged students
to discuss efficacy beliefs in mathematics and the role such beliefs have
in characterizing some choices and in determining differences between
boys and girls. The students were invited to start writing the "book of
their life" (Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2005) beginning with significant
past events. We also asked them to focus on the consequences of those
events in increasing their "strengths" and to identify the connections
between the past, the present, and the niture.
During the seventh meeting, we explored with the participants some
features ofthe current world of work (Blustein, 2006; Savickas, 2005).
For example, there is a growing need in the workplace for individuals
with well-developed intellectual abilities, greater flexibility, and relational
and problem-solving abilities. The youth were then invited to project
into the future and write at least another chapter of their book, picturing themselves in 5 and 10 years' time. They were asked to imagine
where they would be, what they would do, and the people with whom
they would interact.
In the eighth meeting, we focused on (a) professional objectives (Savickas,
2005), (b) why it was important for youth to think through objectives,
(c) how they could formulate their own professional objective starting
from refiections on themselves, and (d) their own characteristics and
life situations. They were then invited to write it down and, if necessary,
they were given support and personalized suggestions.
During the ninth meeting, the discussion was focused on compensatory
and noncompensatory decisional strategies, particularly the expected
utility (EU) model (Gati, 1986; Gati & Asher, 2001). Using the in88

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formation they obtained in the discussion, the youth were invited to

define decisional aspects and to compare significant professional options
in relation to their set professional objective.
In the 10th and final meeting, we focused on ways the students could
use in choosing the educational pathways that would enable them to
pursue their professional objectives. We summarized the work that had
been completed, encouraging the youth to discuss those tasks. We also
stimulated students' thoughts about their future and about the differences they could see in their current thoughts and the ones they had at
the beginning of the intervention.

Results
Educationai Outcomes

One of our aims was that each meeting would allow the youth to increase
their knowledge and abilities, thereby enabling them to set a goal to
pursue. In six out of nine meetings, all 25 (100%) participants reached
the mastery criterion; in the third and the eighth meeting, 24 (96%)
students did, and in the sixth meeting, 23 (92%) students did. Thus,
our overall goal was reached for most of the students.
Empirical Outcomes

Repeated-measures analyses of variance were used to evaluate changes

in time perspective measures and decidedness over time and as a function of treatment condition. The independent variable was treatment
condition (experimental vs. control), and pre-post measurement was
the repeated measurement factor (Time) with two levels (pretest and
posttest measurement). Only the Treatment Condition x Time interaction produced effects of interest for the study and will be reported. The
Bonferroni correction {p = .05/5) were used. The effect sizes of the
interactions were calculated in accordance with Field's (2005) suggestion of converting F ratios to an effect size r. When r = .10 the effect
is considered small, when r = .30 the effect is considered medium, and
when r = .50 the effect is considered large.
A repeated-measures analysis of variance showed a main interaction effect of the treatment condition and the pretest and posttest measurement,
Wilks's lambda = .619, P(5, 44) = 5.428, p = .001. Univariate analyses
showed an interaction effect for the LTPD, F{1, 48) = 12.774, p = .001,
r = .46. For the AFG, no significant interaction effect emerged. For the
Hope Scale, an interaction effect emerged on Pathways, P(l, 48) = 8.178,
p = .006, r = .38. For the LDASCF, an interaction effect emerged, f(l,
48) = 19.199, p = .001, r= .54. T-score means of the experimental and
the control groups at pretest and posttest are reported in Table 1. The
interaction graphs (Figures 1 to 3) highlighted that the experimental group
showed higher sense of continuity, higher Pathways (Hope Scale), and also
higher levels of career decidedness at posttest than did the control group.

Dismssion
The aim of the program Hopes and Expectations for the Future was to
increase adolescents' ability to project into the future and build their
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TABLE 1
Means (T Scores) and Standard Deviations of Experimental
and Control Groups at Pretest and Posttest
Control
Group
Measure
LTPD
AFG
Sense of Agency
Pathways
LDASCF

M
49.11
49.87
49.18
49.14
51.11

Pretest
Experimental
Group

SD
9.80
9.48
9.02
8.81
10.21

M
50.88
50.12
50.81
50.89
48.88

SD
10.31
10.68
11.01
11.17
9.85

Posttest
Control
Experimental
Group
Group
M
48.60
49.79
49.79
49.56
51.87

SD
12.17
11.31
8.33
9.37
12.21

M
59.70
54.88
58.41
58.38
60.52

SD
10.09
10.40
8.59
9.31
6.96

Note. LTPD = Long-Term Personal Direction Scale; AFG = Achievability of Future

Goals Scale; LDASCF = Level of Decision and Assurance Related to One's SchoolCareer Future.

own eareer projeet with greater competence and awareness. As expected,

at posttest, the experimental group showed higher levels of condnuity,
hope (Pathways), and career decicledness than did the control group.
Contrary to expectations, no differences were found for Optimism and
60

Experimental Group
O- -O Control Group

58

56

0)

S 54-

52
/
50-

o<3

48

I
Pretest

Posttest
Time

FIGURE 1
LTPD for Experimental and Control Groups at Pretest and
Posttest
Note. LTPD = Long-Term Personal Direction Scale.

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60

Experimental Group
O- -O Control Group

58

Q 56.

52-

/
50

O
48

Pretest

Posttest
Time

FIGURE 2
Pathways for Exprimentai and Control Groups at Pretest
and Posttest
Note. LTPD = Long-Term Personal Direction Scale.

Sense of Agency. However, the results obtained seem encouraging. The r

effect sizes were between .38 and .54 and can be considered medium to
large. They seem satisfactory when compared with the average weighted
effect sizes of other career interventions, which are about .30 to .34, as
reported in meta-analytic studies (Brown & Ryan Krane, 2000; Whiston,
Sexton, & Lasoff, 1998).
At the end of the intervention, there was a significant increase in
students' LTPD scores. Working on continuity between students' past,
present, and future and on goal setting may have stimulated these youth
to find a stronger relation between what they were currently doing
and what they might pursue in the fiiture. In addition, training them
to think about the future may have made the latter more real to them
and facilitated projection and anticipation of events (Saviekas, 2002).
An increase in the hope for the future was also recorded in Pathways.
Encouraging youth to think that there are several options for the future,
and, consequently, a number of different ways to pursue their goals, may
have fostered greater feelings of hope in them (Snyder et al., 2002).
Participants also showed an increased level of perceived decision. Encouraging reflections on interests and the self-efficacy beliefs associated
with them, on the relation between personal characteristics and career
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Experimental Group
O--O Control Group
60

54-

-o
51 -

O--/

48-

Pretest

Posttest
Time

FIGURE 3
LDASCF for Experimental and Control Groups at Pretest
and Posttest
Note. LDASCF = Level of Decision and Assurance Related to One's School-Career Future.

options, and asking the youth to explore the options and relate them
to their own objectives very likely contributed to the youth having a
clearer idea of choice. These results seem to support Sampson, Peterson,
Reardon, and Lenz's (2000) position, which proposed a significant role
for existing knowledge, both on oneself and school-career reality, and
for decisional strategies in favoring higher levels of decision.
However, the students' scores on the Optimism About the Future
scale and the dimension of sense of agency did not show any changes.
It could be that more time is needed for students to experience choice
situations that make them perceive some sort of optimism and sense
of agency. It also may be that more experimental activities should be
proposed, as suggested also by Marko and Savickas (1989), to produce
a more sizable affective change. Perhaps, as Leondari (2007) indicated,
it could also be useful to devote more time to imagine possible desirable
selves and to envisage possible futures, which is generally associated with
a sense of purpose in life and fosters a positive emotional state. Regarding sense of agency, perhaps more attention should be paid to sense of
self-efficacy in problem solving (Savickas, 2005).
In examining implications for the theory, our data indicate that the two
components of time perspectivethe cognitive one (i.e., connectedness
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between present behaviors and nature outcomes) and the affective one
(i.e., mood and hope about the future)can be changed and improved
in developmental-age youth. Implementing specific interventions can
diminish adolescents' natural tendency to concentrate more on the
present (Ferrari et al., 2010; Janeiro, 2010).
Regarding implications for practice, the variables that we focused on in
the intervention are indeed sensitive to educational actions and they can
certainly be examined in developmental age both for at-risk youtii and
in a preventive perspective. The importance of addressing small groups
should also be considered because such an approach allows the trainer
to discuss questions at the individual level and to give specific feedback
to every participant, as suggested by Brown and Ryan Krane (2000).
Moreover, working with groups allows the intervention to be carried out
with a larger number of individuals, thereby making it less expensive. In
addition, students also can draw some useflil ideas and refiections from
the comments, refiections, and proposals of their school peers.
Future research should examine whether this type of intervention can
affect career adaptability in general and whether it could prove efficacious
with students with different characteristics, such as younger students or
individuals from different ethnic backgrounds.
Although our findings are encouraging, there are some limitations
that must be considered. First, we selected a group of low-scoring
participants. Using this method brings regression toward the mean into
play and the students' scores may have a natural tendency to increase,
even though this did not happen with the control group. Second, our
control group attended usual school activities. It may simply be that
the added attention that the experimental group received contributed
to their higher scores. Future research should propose other kinds
of training sessions for the control group. Third, it must also be remembered that the satisfactory assessment of training efficacy should
not be limited to recording changes that occur only a few weeks after
program completion. This implies that future research should also
include 6- and 12-month follow-ups to determine whether students
maintained and generalized the abilities focused on in the training. It
is difficult to discern which interventions or combinations of interventions produced significant results. Future research should also examine
this kind of question.
In conclusion, our results seem to confirm that this program can expand
adolescents' perception ofthe future, a period that adolescents do not
tend to think of in a proactive way. The results also suggest that it is
possible to encourage adolescents to think that they can do something
to actively construct their own fiiture.

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