The scope of the thesis is to examine the relationship between the psychological future and stress measures. The study involved 616 Slovenian participants who completed a battery of questionnaires: the Future Time Perspective Scale (FTPS), the Life Project Scale (LPS), and a shorter version of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales (DASS-21). The first part of the thesis includes the validation of FTOS and LPS using confirmatory factor analysis, examining the floor and ceiling effects, their internal consistency, and measurement invariance. Both scales proved to be reliable and valid measures, with FTOS assessing cognitive and dynamic aspects of future orientation, and LPS assessing clarity and enactment of life projects. Additionally, both scales showed measurement invariance at the scalar level, when the second item of FTOS is freed. Convergent validity was examined using the Career Concern subscale of the Career Adapt-abilities Scale, which showed moderate positive correlations with both FTOS and LPS. FTOS and LPS were negatively correlated with all three stress measures of the DASS 21 questionnaire. Through path analysis and mediation analysis, it was found that depression had a negative effect on both latent variables of life projects, while anxiety had a positive effect on the clarity of life projects. Perceived goal value and the connection between present and future events had a mediating effect on the relationship between depression and both latent variables of life projects. The results reveal new dimensions in distinguishing between closely related and often comorbid constructs of anxiety and depression, which show opposing effects in relation to life project measures. Furthermore, the study provides an adaptation of two scales for measuring psychological future in the Slovenian context and encourages their use in further research.
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