Participation in School-Based Extracurricular Activities and Adolescent Adjustment
- 1 March 2005
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Leisure Research
- Vol. 37 (1), 51-76
- https://doi.org/10.1080/00222216.2005.11950040
Abstract
This paper examines the association between participation in school-based extracurricular activities (ECAs) and adolescent adjustment (drinking, marijuana use, grades, academic attitudes and academic aspirations) among students from six high schools. Three major issues were addressed: the potential confounding of selective EGA participation by better adjusted students and measures of adjustment, variability in the strength of the association between ECA participation and adjustment as a function of adolescent demographic characteristics and activity type, and the role of peers as mediators of the association between ECA participation and adjustment. Adolescents who participated in ECAs reported higher grades, more positive attitudes toward schools, and higher academic aspirations once demographic characteristics and prior adjustment were controlled. Alcohol and marijuana use were not independently associated with ECA participation. The ECA-adjustment association did not vary by demographic characteristics and did not appear to be mediated by peer characteristics. Those who participated in non-sport ECAs reported consistently better adjustment than those who did not participate in ECAs and those who participate in sports.Keywords
This publication has 23 references indexed in Scilit:
- Relationships between five after-school activities and academic achievement.Journal of Educational Psychology, 1999
- The Effects of Extracurricular Activity, Ethnic Identification, and Perception of School on Student Dropout RatesHispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 1999
- Organizational Effects on Race Relations in SchoolsJournal of Social Issues, 1999
- High School Extracurricular Activities: Closed Structures and Stratifying Patterns of ParticipationThe Journal of Educational Research, 1998
- Do extracurricular activities protect against early school dropout?Developmental Psychology, 1997
- Extracurricular Activities and High School DropoutsSociology of Education, 1995
- Parenting Style and Peer Group Membership Among European-American AdolescentsJournal of Research on Adolescence, 1993
- Impact of Parenting Practices on Adolescent Achievement: Authoritative Parenting, School Involvement, and Encouragement to SucceedChild Development, 1992
- Participation in Extracurricular Activities in Secondary School: What Is Known, What Needs to Be Known?Review of Educational Research, 1987
- When Less Is More: School Size and Student Social ParticipationSocial Psychology Quarterly, 1980