Organized leisure activities and well-being : children getting it just right!

This article explores how the levels of participation in organized leisure activities relate to children’s psychosocial well-being. Data collection occurred in a school district with 7 schools in the northern part of Sweden. Children ages 12-14 were invited to complete the World Health Organizations’ Health Behavior in School-Aged Children self-completion questionnaire (n=391). An independent variable was constructed to measure children’s participation in organized leisure activities at three levels: low level (LL), medium level (ML), and high level (HL). Ten out of 13 correlations were significant at the p< .05 level). Results indicated that the ML group scored high on life satisfaction, had a lot of friends, and felt less pressure in school than the other two groups, while the LL and HL groups had fewer friends and felt more pressure. The conclusion drawn is that a medium level of participation in organized leisure activities was most favorable for children’s health and well-being. Discussions include possibilities for finding the right balance between organized leisure activities and children’s well-beingValiderad; 2012; 20111212 (andbra)