Citation

Mahoney JL, Vest AE. J. Res. Adolesc. 2012; 22(3): 409-418.

Affiliation

Department of Education, University of California, Irvine, 2050 Education Building, Irvine, CA, 92697-5500.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1532-7795.2012.00808.x

PMID

23066336

Abstract

Concern exists that youth who spend a lot of time participating in organized out-of-school activities (e.g., sports) are at-risk for poor developmental outcomes. This concern - called the over-scheduling hypothesis - has primarily been assessed in terms of adolescent adjustment. This longitudinal study of a nationally representative sample of 1,115 youth (ages 12-18) assessed long-term relations between intensity of participation during adolescence and adjustment at young adulthood (ages 18-24). Time diaries measured intensity as hours per week of participation. Results showed that, controlling for demographic factors and baseline adjustment, intensity was a significant predictor of positive outcomes (e.g., psychological flourishing, civic engagement, educational attainment) and unrelated to indicators of problematic adjustment (e.g., psychological distress, substance use, antisocial behavior) at young adulthood.

Language: en