Participation in organized leisure-time activities and risk behaviors in Czech adolescents

Petr Badura,Dagmar Sigmundova,Sijmen A Reijneveld,Jitse P Van Dijk,Andrea Madarasova Geckova,Erik Sigmund

doi:10.1007/s00038-016-0930-9

Abstract

ObjectivesThe study aimed to assess the associations between participation in organized leisure-time activities (OLTA) and risk behaviors, and whether the associations differed by gender, age, and pattern of OLTA involvement.MethodsData from the 2013/2014 Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children study on 10,279 11-, 13-, and 15-year-old Czech adolescents (49.2% boys) were used. We assessed the associations between OLTA participation and risk behaviors, and modification by age and gender.ResultsOLTA participants were less likely to smoke, get drunk repeatedly, or skip school and, in contrast, more likely to get injured and fight repeatedly. The associations with lower occurrence of risk behaviors were the strongest for artists, while none was significant for adolescents participating only in team sports. Girls participating in OLTA had lower odds to smoke, get drunk, or skip school than boys, and these boys had higher odds to get injured or fight.ConclusionsOLTA participation is associated with lower occurrence of repeated substance use and truancy and inversely with higher odds for physical fights and injuries. Girls, in general, are at lower risk when participating in OLTA than boys.

Highlights

Adolescence has been perceived as a turbulent period typified by an inclination towards problematic behaviors, with the fundamental goal of overcoming this time period with least harm possible inflicted on an individual (Hall 1904). Lerner (2005) provided a detailed overview of the huge paradigm shift that has taken placeP
We found no significant association with being a bully after adjusting for gender, age, and Family Affluence Scale (FAS) (Model 3)
We found that adolescents involved in organized leisure-time activities (OLTA) were, in general, less likely to be engaged in risk behaviors than their uninvolved peers

Summary

Introduction

Adolescence has been perceived as a turbulent period typified by an inclination towards problematic behaviors, with the fundamental goal of overcoming this time period with least harm possible inflicted on an individual (Hall 1904). Lerner (2005) provided a detailed overview of the huge paradigm shift that has taken placeP. Adolescence has been perceived as a turbulent period typified by an inclination towards problematic behaviors, with the fundamental goal of overcoming this time period with least harm possible inflicted on an individual (Hall 1904). Lerner (2005) provided a detailed overview of the huge paradigm shift that has taken place. A. Reijneveld Department of Community and Occupational Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

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