Attitudinal ambivalence is a mediator between attitudes and health behaviors. The present study contributes to our understanding of affective attitudes ambivalence.

We studied the ambivalence of affective attitudes towards health among adolescents.

We compared the affective attitudes ambivalence between younger (10–14 years) and older (15–16 years) adolescents.

Older (n = 51, Mage = 15.09 ± 0.30) and younger adolescents (n = 28, Mage = 12.96 ± 0.99) performed a modified Etkind Color Test. We calculated the associations between 13 factors related to health (e.g. sport, risky behavior) and positive emotions, as well as the associations between same factors and negative emotions. Thompson, Zanna and Griffin ambivalence index was a measure of attitudinal ambivalence.

Among younger adolescents all 13 correlations between negative and positive attitudes towards health related factors were significant and negative: −0.402 < r < −0.804 (which means the greater is the association between a word and positive emotions, the smaller is the association between the same word and negative emotions; and vice versa). Only 5 correlations were significant and negative among older adolescents (−0.209 < r < −0.463): environment, risky behaviors, family, sleep, my psychological well-being.

The difference in ambivalence indexes was significant in two groups of adolescents [F(14,64) = 5.97, P = −0.0001]. Younger adolescents had significantly lower ambivalence indexes in affective attitudes towards all 13 factors.

Older adolescents had more ambivalent affective attitudes towards health related factors compared to younger adolescents.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.