Leisure activities and adolescent psychological well-being

We examined the validity of the reported link between well-being and leisure participation in adolescents. Nine hundred and forty-seven, Year 10 students from 19 schools in Adelaide, South Australia, were recruited. Participants completed a questionnaire concerning participation in social, non-social and unstructured leisure activities as well as measures of personality. As expected, personality variables were better predictors of adolescent well-being than spare-time use, although engagement in less structured leisure activities was associated with poorer psychological well-being and substance use. These findings support previous personality research which suggests that spare-time use may be related to well-being only insofar as individuals who are psychologically healthy tend to be involved in structured leisure activities. The implications of these findings for school policy and future research concerning the links between leisure involvement and psychological well-being are discussed.