The DOI matches its Crossref record; 52 of the 52 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Screen time and extracurricular activities as risk and protective factors for mental health in adolescence: A population-level study
Abstract
This study examines adolescents' (N = 28,712; 49% female; M age = 12.25, SD age = 0.51) recreational screen time and participation in extracurricular activities during after-school hours in association to indicators of positive (optimism, satisfaction with life) and negative (anxiety, depressive symptoms) mental health and wellbeing. Data were drawn from a population-level study with the Middle Years Development Instrument (MDI) with grade 7 students in British Columbia (BC), Canada. The research was implemented in public school districts between 2014 and 2018. We found that adolescents who participated in extracurricular activities (e.g., sports, arts programs, community programs) were significantly less likely to engage in recreational screen-based activities (e.g., watching programs, browsing the internet, playing computer games) for 2 or more hours after school. Findings from Multilevel Structural Equation Modeling analyses showed that extracurricular participation was associated with higher levels of satisfaction with life and optimism, and lower levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms. In contrast, longer screen time (≥2 h/day) was associated with lower levels of satisfaction with life and optimism, and higher levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms; shorter screen time (<2 h/day) was associated with favorable mental health and wellbeing. For screen time, the effect was moderated by gender; the association between longer screen time and poorer mental health and wellbeing was significantly more pronounced for girls than boys. For both boys and girls, mental health and wellbeing were most favorable if they participated in extracurricular activities and reported less than 2 h of recreational screen time per day.
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“For example, research shows that an adult figure other than a parent (such as a teacher, coach, etc.) or engagement with community activities can serve as informal sources of mental health help-seeking and as positive elements, respectively, in young people’s lives, which may help them cope with mental health difficulties [55,56].”
From Exploring the Impact of COVID-19 on Mental Health Outcomes in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review (2020) · cites this paper as [56]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Oberle, E., Ji, X. R., Kerai, S., Guhn, M., Schonert-Reichl, K. A., & Gadermann, A. M.
- Affiliations
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Oberle, Eva
- ORCID
- Venue
- Preventive Medicine
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2020-12
- Volume
- 141
- Pages
- 106291
- ISSN
- 0091-7435 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3093399866
- Cited by
- 149
- References
- 52
- Citations by year
- 2026: 14 · 2025: 34 · 2024: 30 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 36 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 24.19
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Preventive Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Youth Development and Social Support
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Physical Activity and Health
- Keywords
- recreational screen time, extracurricular activities, adolescent mental health, anxiety, depressive symptoms, optimism, life satisfaction, well-being, gender differences, junior high school students, after-school activities
- MeSH terms
- Screen Time, Adolescent, British Columbia, Child, Female, Humans, Infant, Male, Mental Health, Sports, Protective Factors
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