POLISH ADAPTATION OF THE YOUTH LIFE ORIENTATION TEST (Test Orientacji Zyciowej w wersji dla dzieci i mlodziezy - adaptacja Youth Life Orientation Test)

Optimism is defined as dispositional tendency to have positive (but not negative) expectancies about future and is linked with physical and psychological well-being in adults. Research on the importance of optimism and pessimism in children is limited in Poland by the lack of a developmentally appropriate measure. To test reliability and validity of the Polish adaptation of Youth Life Orientation Test (YLOT) (Ey et al., 2005) 201 students (9 to 20 years old) were surveyed (in two samples). Factor analyses confirmed the factor reliability and recognized the two factor (pessimism and optimism) structure of the Polish version of YLOT. The reliability and stability of the measure were confirmed for both subscales. The expected associations between the Polish version of YLOT and related measures of self-esteem, anxiety, hope and personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion and agreeableness) provided support for the validity of the test.