NCJ Number
220536
Journal
Journal of Adolescence Volume: 30 Issue: 5 Dated: October 2007 Pages: 721-737
Date Published
October 2007
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This study integrated the areas of identity development and leisure involvement to predict various youth outcomes, by examining how the activity-based identity experiences of personal expressiveness, flow, and goal-directed behavior, both uniquely and in combination, were related to problem behavior and psychological well-being.
Abstract
Results corroborate earlier evidence of links between general activity involvement and adolescent outcomes. General activity involvement was associated with higher psychological well-being and less problem behavior, even across different reporters of those outcomes. The results demonstrate that beyond participation alone, subjective identity experiences within self-defining activities account for additional variance in adolescent outcomes. In summary, activity-based goals have the potential to be especially conducive to positive youth development as operationalized in this study. Investigations of the plausible links between activity participation and developmental outcomes have often concentrated on the structural elements of the activity setting. This study investigated the nature of associations between adolescents’ activity experiences and their emotional and behavioral outcomes. The study was designed to address two main research questions. The first focused on maladaptive behavior and explored whether identity-related experiences within self-reported activities were uniquely and additively associated with adolescent substance use, delinquency, and externalizing behavior. The second question focused on outcomes of a more emotional nature, examining whether identity experiences within self-reported activities were associated with adolescent psychological well-being and internalizing behavior. Tables, references