Adolescents’ Self-Esteem Associated with Solitary, Passive, and Active Leisure Activities

Abstract

Adolescents enjoy their free time in different ways including solitary, passive, and active leisure activities. The current special circumstance, the COVID-19 pandemic, provides adolescents with more free time that individuals have to spend by themselves. However, there has been little research devoted to their participation in different leisure activities and its effect on adolescent self-esteem. This study examined current adolescents’ self-esteem levels and frequency of participation among solitary, passive, and active leisure activities and how participation in different types of leisure activities affects adolescent self-esteem. A total of 1759 adolescents self-reported 13 self-esteem items and the frequency of different types of leisure activities. The results revealed that 12 items of the self-esteem scale were higher scores than the average among adolescents in this sample. Adolescents spent significantly more time on solitary leisure activity (M = 4.85) than passive (M = 2.54) and active leisure activities (M = 3.51). The results of regression indicated that solitary activities (β = 0.068, p = 0.007) and sport/exercise (β = 0.267, p < 0.001) and hanging with friends (β = 0.113, p < 0.001) of active leisure activities were positively associated with adolescent self-esteem. The findings suggest that parents, teachers, and administrators should recognize and apply appropriate directions or programs to optimize adolescents’ self-esteem by developing suitable leisure activities. It could be helpful to provide other active leisure activities such as socialized clubs or extracurricular physical activities to improve their self-esteem.