Extracurricular activity participation in early adolescence predicts coping efficacy one year later

Abstract

Objective: Our research investigated whether extracurricular activity intensity in early adolescence predicted coping efficacy one year later. The study also tested whether activity participation intensity showed a linear or a nonlinear relationship with coping efficacy. Method: Year 8 students (N = 1,162; M = 13 years; SD = .35) reported on extracurricular activities and coping efficacy, and repeated the survey in year 9. Results: Greater sporting intensity predicted greater coping efficacy. In contrast, non-sporting activity intensity had a quadratic association with coping efficacy, suggesting that different types of activity participation might have different optimal patterns of participation. After controlling for gender, school SES, initial coping efficacy, and current activity participation, non-sporting activity intensity in grade 8 remained significantly associated (linearly and quadratically) with coping efficacy one year later. Conclusion: Our results offer preliminary evidence that extracurricular activity participation in early adolescence predicts better coping efficacy. The quadratic results indicate that very high levels of activity participation may not be necessary to capitalize on the positive effects of activity participation. KEY POINTS What is already known about this topic: (1) Early adolescence can be a particularly salient period of development for young people. (2) Coping with stress is an important skill for adolescents to develop and protect against negative outcomes. (3) Extracurricular activities are positive environments for adolescents to spend their leisure time. What this study adds: (1) This study established that extracurricular participation intensity during early adolescence predicts coping efficacy one year later. (2) We found that non-sporting activities contribute to coping efficacy, independent of the effects of sporting activities. (3) Additionally, the research indicated a positive linear association between sporting intensity and coping efficacy, whereas non-sporting intensity showed an inverted U-shaped association with coping efficacy.