RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 After the bell: adolescents’ organised leisure-time activities and well-being in the context of social and socioeconomic inequalities
JF Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
JO J Epidemiol Community Health
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP 628
OP 636
DO 10.1136/jech-2020-215319
VO 75
IS 7
A1 Petr Badura
A1 Zdenek Hamrik
A1 Maxim Dierckens
A1 Inese Gobiņa
A1 Marta Malinowska-Cieślik
A1 Jana Furstova
A1 Jaroslava Kopcakova
A1 William Pickett
YR 2021
UL http://jech.bmj.com/content/75/7/628.abstract
AB Background Previous research has linked adolescents’ participation in organised leisure-time activities (OLTAs) to better health and well-being. It remains unclear whether these associations can be observed consistently across social and socioeconomic strata and countries.Methods The present study used nine nationally representative samples of adolescents aged 11, 13 and 15 years (total n=55 429) from the 2017/2018 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey from Europe and Canada. Regression models with mixed effects to account for nested nature of data were applied to estimate: (1) the associations of social and socioeconomic factors with OLTA participation; (2) strengths of the associations between breadth and pattern of OLTA participation with health and well-being indicators, after adjustment for the social and socioeconomic factors.Results Rates of OLTA participation varied by age, sex and country of adolescents. Participants from lower socioeconomic classes and non-nuclear families were less likely to participate in OLTAs across each of the nine countries. Moreover, breadth of OLTA participation was associated with higher well-being independent of socioeconomic status or family structure. All of the participation patterns were associated with higher life satisfaction, but sports (either alone or in combination with a non-sport OLTA) were also associated with fewer psychological complaints and excellent self-rated health.Conclusion Adolescents’ engagement in OLTAs was associated with adolescents’ subjective well-being regardless of country, age, sex and variance in social and socioeconomic factors. Policies aimed at increasing adolescents’ subjective well-being and OLTA participation should focus on adolescents from low socioeconomic classes and non-nuclear families.Data are available upon reasonable request from the corresponding author (petr.badura@upol.cz).