Examining After-School Activities: Do Breadth and Intensity Matter?

• In Event: Poster Session 14
  In Poster Session: Poster Session on the Social Context of Research on Schools and Communities

Abstract

Participation in extracurricular activities promotes healthy development, increases educational outcomes and may lead to the prevention of involvement in risky behaviors. Traditionally, these relationships have been explored by linear trends. However, more recently researchers have begun investigating the possibility of a quadratic relationship between the amount of activities and time spent on these activities and academic performance in terms of the Overscheduling hypothesis, which proposes that after certain point, too much participation in extracurricular activities can be detrimental. The current study examines the relationship between intensity and breadth of extracurricular participation and their association GPA, developmental assets and risky behaviors. A subset of 47387 of 9th grade students from the 2010 Minnesota Student Survey administration was considered for the study.

Authors

• Jose R. Palma Zamora, University of Minnesota

• Martin Van Boekel, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• Luke Stanke, University of Minnesota

• Kory Vue, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• Julio C. Cabrera, University of Minnesota

• Yu-Feng Chang, University of Minnesota

• Nicholas Latterell, University of Minnesota

• Stacy R. Karl, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• Michael C. Rodriguez, University of Minnesota

• Okan Bulut, University of Alberta