International note: Prevailing with extracurricular activities in an alcohol-dominated environment: Sex differences in resilience among middle school youth

Extracurricular involvement creates an outlet for adolescents to gain skills and resources that assist them in overcoming certain risks. Resiliency theory is applied to study the promotive effects of extracurricular activity involvement as this may help Polish youth overcome risks for alcohol use. Our data include 2903, 13 and 14 year old Polish adolescents. We use regression analysis to test the main and interaction effects of extracurricular involvement after adjusting for demographics and social influences. Sex differences are examined within the resilience framework. We found protective effects of extracurricular involvement for males, but only a compensatory effect for females. Implications for future research and intervention are discussed.