Life Satisfaction among Adolescents: Comparison of Adolescents Attending Music and Sports Programs and Those Who Do Not

Abstract

Life satisfaction is the self-evaluation of the individual's quality of life and the expectations they have of their life. Adolescence is a sensitive period during which life satisfaction very often declines. Previous research has confirmed the positive relationship between life satisfaction and attendance of extracurricular activities. This paper examines the differences in life satisfaction among adolescents who attend music and sports programs and those who do not. Furthermore, it examines the differences in life satisfaction as related to age and gender. A sample comprising 460 Croatian adolescents (aged 15-19 years) participated in the study. Respondents completed the Brief Multidimensional Students' Life Satisfaction Scale (BMSLSS), which assesses life satisfaction in relation to five life domains. The results of a three-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated a significant difference in the life satisfaction between respondents attending music and sports programs and those who do not (F = 9.11; p < .001). A Scheffe post-hoc test revealed that respondents attending both music and sports programs had higher rates of life satisfaction than those who are not enrolled in such extracurricular activities. Furthermore, younger and older respondents did not show differences in life satisfaction, although there was a difference between boys and girls in overall life satisfaction (F = 5.035; p = .025), with boys having a higher rate of life satisfaction than girls. This paper suggests the importance of encouraging and promoting music and sports education among children and adolescents.