After-school time use of urban adolescents: Effects on achievement, problem behaviors, and happiness

Abstract

Leisure is a context for both risk and protection of adolescent wellbeing. Using a person-centered analysis, the present study examined the links between after-school time use and the adjustment of an urban sample of 7th–12th graders (n¼3,808), who self-reported on their leisure activities, school achievement, problem behaviors, and happiness. Results indicated that time use patterns were distributed in five clusters: Creative/Social, Productive/Home, High-Social/Sports, Uninvolved/Sports, and Uninvolved/Home. These patterns of time use varied by age, gender and SES, and were linked with adolescent outcomes in a way that adolescents involved with multiple constructive activities presented better adjustment compared with their either uninvolved or socially oriented counterparts. Specific groups of adolescents were at higher risk for problem behaviors linked to after-school time use. These findings have relevant implications for evidence-based interventions and policies aiming at promoting adolescent well-being and targeting at-risk populations of youth.