After-School Activities 1 Running head: AFTER-SCHOOL ACTIVITIES Youth Development in After-School Leisure Activities

Leisure activities that occur outside of the school hours may facilitate positive youth development. The experiences of youth in three categories of activities (basketball and football, other sports, and non-sports) are examined in this study. Based on prior research, it is hypothesized that students participating in basketball and football will experience more negative outcomes (i.e., problem behaviors, fewer positive peer influences, and lower academic achievement). Furthermore, specific experiences in these leisure activities are explored as potential mediators of the effects of participation. Results indicate that basketball and football participation is related to more negative experiences and outcomes, but these differences reflect selection of more at-risk youths into these activities. Implications of the findings are discussed. After-School Activities 3 Youth Development in After-School Leisure Activities Professionals in the fields of youth development and delinquency prevention have been interested in the potential positive effects of activity participation. However, this research is challenged by two primary issues. First, youth self-select into specific leisure activities, making it difficult to separate the effects of selection from the effects of participation. Second, the specific mechanisms related to how participation in leisure activities might influence outcomes are unclear. This study extends previous research by examining effects of selection into leisure activity participation on outcomes including problem behaviors, peer influence, and academic achievement. Specific experiences during leisure activity participation are also examined as the potential causal processes relating activity participation to the outcomes. Leisure Activities and Selection Leisure activities have recently received considerable attention because of the potential to manipulate the availability of these activities for youth. In this paper, leisure activities are defined as any extracurricular activities occurring outside of the school hours that require some effort, including sports, academic clubs, and performance and fine-arts clubs. Experiences during leisure activities have been compared to school time, time spent with peers, and employment (Hansen, Larson, & Dworkin, 2003; Kahne et al., 2000; Larson, Hansen, & Moneta, 2006). These studies suggested that leisure activities sometimes were associated with more positive experiences (e.g., identity development, supports for youth development) than the comparisons. In addition to comparisons of leisure activities to other contexts, compared to nonparticipation, leisure activity participation has been associated with increased educational aspirations and attainment, positive psychological outcomes, and reduced problem behaviors After-School Activities 4 (Barber, Eccles, & Stone, 2001; Fredricks & Eccles, 2006; Holland & Andre, 1987; Mahoney, Larson, Eccles, & Lord, 2005). On the other hand, some leisure activities (e.g., sports) have been positively related to delinquency, substance use, and school drop out when compared to non-participation (Agnew & Petersen, 1989; Eccles & Barber, 1999; Eccles, Barber, Stone & Hunt, 2003; Fredricks & Eccles, 2006; Mahoney, Stattin & Magnusson, 2001). Many of these studies failed to account for the voluntary nature of these activities meaning that individual characteristics influence choice of participation and outcomes. Thus, the correlation of activity participation and outcomes may be spurious. Although research has begun to control for individual characteristics (Eccles et al., 2003; Fredricks & Eccles, 2006), more of these studies are needed to determine whether the previously reported associations replicate. Potential Benefits and Causal Processes Mahoney et al. (2005) suggest that positive youth development includes positive functioning in the present, the reduced risk for the development of problem behaviors, and an increased likelihood for healthy adjustment in the future. This holistic view links the importance of prevention and promotion, both of which are necessary components for youth to become functioning and contributing adults to society. Thus the potential benefits of leisure activities are clear (e.g., intellectual development, prevention of problem behaviors such as substance use, psychological adjustment). The causal process that may link leisure activities to changes in outcomes is less clear. There is evidence that the situational context of the activity is important; organized, structured, and supervised leisure activities lead to more positive outcomes (Agnew & Petersen, 1989; Gottfredson, Gerstenblith, Soulé, Womer, & Lu, 2004; Gottfredson, Gottfredson, & Weisman, 2001; Larson et al., 2006; Mahoney et al., 2005). Others suggest that psychological factors and After-School Activities 5 interpersonal skills such as developmental experiences, competencies learned, and supports for healthy development also are important (Hansen & Larson, 2005; Kahne et al., 2001; Larson, Wilson, Brown, Furstenburg, & Verma, 2002; Roth & Brooks-Gunn, 2003). Compared to the situational context, these intervening mechanisms have been subject to less empirical testing. Dworkin, Larson, and Hansen (2003) developed The Youth Experiences Survey (YES) to study the psychological factors and interpersonal skills developed during leisure activities. Given that negative experiences are likely, they were also included. In the first empirical test of the YES 1.0, Hansen et al. (2003) analyzed experiences in the following five categories of activities (defined based on prior categorizations in the literature): faith-based and service, academic and leadership, performance and fine arts, community and vocational, and sports. They concluded, first, that faith-based and service activities were consistently associated with more positive experiences and less associated with negative experiences. Second, while sports were more strongly associated with gaining self-knowledge and developing emotional and physical skills, they were also associated with more negative peer interactions than the other activities. It is unclear whether the activities themselves led to these experiences or whether students with certain characteristics selected into specific activities because controls were not included. Using a revised version of the original survey (YES 2.0), similar differences between activities were found (Larson et al., 2006). The most positive experiences were reported by students participating in faith-based activities. Students participating in academic activities reported the lowest ratings of positive experiences. Participating in sports was positively associated with initiative, emotional regulation, and teamwork and social skills, but was also the only activity which was positively related to all four negative experiences (only stress and social After-School Activities 6 exclusion were significant). Despite the suggestion that differences exist in youth experiences during participation in the different activity categories, the study does not separate potential effects of participation from possible effects of selection (i.e., controls were not included). Confluence of Selection, Activity Participation and Youth Development Another group of researchers have suggested that individual characteristics, activity participation, peer groups, and identity are intimately linked, and that the coalescence of these factors influences youth development (Barber et al., 2001; Barber, Stone, Hunt, & Eccles, 2005; Eccles & Barber, 1999; Eccles et al., 2003). Examining activity participation (prosocial, sports, performing arts, school involvement, and academic clubs) measured during 10 grade, they found evidence for the influence of these activities on 12 grade outcomes after controlling for selection. The strongest findings were for the effect of prosocial activities (e.g., church, community service) on decreasing risky behaviors (substance use and skipping school) and the effect of sports on increasing risky behaviors. Additional analyses suggested that activity participation was related to similar more long-term outcomes at an eight year follow-up (Barber et al., 2001; Barber et al., 2005; Eccles & Barber, 1999; Eccles et al., 2003). These results confirm the potential benefits and risks of leisure activity participation on adolescent development, even after accounting for selection. Specific mediating effects of identity building and peer influence were not examined, however, they did find relationships among individual characteristics, activity choice, identity, peer groups, and outcomes. For instance, individuals who played sports, identified themselves as “jocks,” and had friends who engaged in risky behaviors also reported higher levels of drinking. Their analyses underscore the need to unravel the complex relationships among individual characteristics, risk and protective factors, and outcomes. After-School Activities 7 Objectives and Hypotheses Building on these studies which were conducted approximately 25 years ago with an older, predominately white, middle-SES sample, this study examines the relationship among individual characteristics, activity participation, developmental experiences, and outcomes. First, the reliability of the YES instrument used in key research summarized earlier to measure developmental experiences during activity participation, is examined for younger, mostly minority, low-SES youths. The YES was developed from focus groups and the initial tests (Hansen et al., 2003; Larson et al., 2006) were all conducted with predominately white, middleSES, high school samples. Second, pre-existing characteristics of youth engaging in three categories of activities (basketball and football, other sports, and non-sports) are compared. Controlling for individual characteristics, the relationship between activity participation and similar outcomes (peer influence, GPA, problem classroom behaviors, delinquency) discussed in the literature is then explored. Finally, any relationship not accounted for by selection (i.e., individual level controls) is examined further to test the extent to which developmental experiences measured by the YES mediate the effects of activity participation on outcomes. Building from the negative findings for sports in prior research cited above, the competitive nature, and the possibility of low structure in basketball and football, it is hypothesized that students choosing to participate in basketball and football will experience more negative experiences and outcomes than students in the other two groups.