Argentine validation of the consideration of future consequences scale (CFC-14)

Abstract

Consideration of future consequences is the extent to which people anticipate and are influenced by the potential future consequences of their current behavior. A well-established tool to measure this behavior is the 14-item Consideration of Future Consequences Scale (CFC-14). The CFC-14 has shown appropriate psychometric properties in several languages. This scale comprises two factors: the CFC-Immediate (CFC-I, 7 items) and the CFC-Future (CFC-F, 7 items). The main goal of this study was to assess the psychometric properties and internal consistency of the CFC-14 Scale in Spanish, using an Argentine sample. A second goal was to determine its convergent validity with impulsivity, and determine differences and invariance across gender and age groups. Using a web-based survey, data were collected from 512 participants (75.2% women) aged 13-74 years (M = 30.8). CFA showed a two-factor model as the best solution for the 13-items version (CFI .961, TLI .952, RMSEA .064 90%IC .054/.074, WRMR 0.979). Standardized regression weights (p≤ .05) ranged from .50 to .66 for CFC-F and between .43 and .83 for CFC-I. Composite reliability was also adequate: CFC-F achieved ρ = .80 and CFC-I ρ = .82. There were no differences across gender and age, but there was a progressive invariance between these groups. The CFC-F and UPPS-P subscales correlations were negative and significant, highlighting the negative and moder-ate correlation between CFC-F and the lack of premeditation (r=-.41). Thus, CFC-14 has adequate psychometric properties in an Argentine population, although more studies are necessary to determine the robustness of these findings.