Research Themes: Social Context of Education

After-School Time: Programs, Activities, and Opportunities

“Overscheduled” kids are a frequent source of concern among parents and youth advocates. Yet, adults also worry about the detrimental consequences for adolescents of too much unstructured and unsupervised time after school.

Researchers at the National Center for Children and Families, with support from the W.T. Grant Foundation, recently completed The Time Matters in Organized Activities Project to enhance our understanding of how adolescents’ choices of activities during the non-school hours relates to their development.

The research brief, Greater Involvement in Organized Activities Beneficial for Adolescents, provides an overview of the key findings from the project as well as research and policy recommendations.

Key Findings

• Youth who participate in organized activities are generally better off than those who do not – academically, psychologically, and socially.
• Youth who participate in multiple activities, and those who devote a significant amount of time to these activities, derive greater benefits than youth who participate less.
• Different types of organized activities offer different benefits (and risks). For example, greater participation in sports activities is associated with both positive (better academic and psychological functioning) and negative (higher substance use and problem behaviors) outcomes.  Greater participation in afterschool programs, in contrast, is associated with academic gains, but few other developmental benefits.
• With few exceptions, studies find that while extremely high levels of participation may not yield greater benefits than participation at more moderate levels, very high levels of participation are generally not detrimental to youth development.
• Disadvantaged youth are particularly likely to benefit from greater participation.

Key Policy Recommendations

• More funding should be provided for improving the quality of after-school programs in order to create environments that more closely mirror the developmental supports provided by extracurricular activities.
• Funding should increase for a variety of organized activities serving disadvantaged youth, not solely those focusing on academic achievement.

For More Information

Details on the findings summarized in the above brief are available from the following publications:
        Gardner, M., Roth, J., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (in press).  Adolescents' participation in organized activities and developmental success two and eight years after high school:  Do sponsorship, duration, and intensity matter?  Developmental Psychology.
        Fauth, R. C., Roth, J. L., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2007).  Does the neighborhood context alter the link between youth’s after-school time activities and developmental outcomes?: A multilevel analysis. Developmental Psychology, 43(3), 760-777. 
        Roth, J. (2006).  Next steps:  Considering patterns of participation.  Social Policy Report, XX (4), p. 20-21.  Available from http://www.srcd.org/spr.html. 
         
Series on Time Matters in Organized Activities (executive summaries will be available online):
        Roth, J., Malone, L.M., Brooks-Gunn, J. (2007).  Is more time spent in organized activities associated with better outcomes for adolescents?:  A review of the literature. 
        Roth, J., Malone, L.M., Brooks-Gunn, J. (2007).  Does multi-year participation lead to better outcomes for adolescents?:  A review of the literature. 
        Roth, J., Malone, L.M., Brooks-Gunn, J. (2007).  Is participation in a variety of activities associated with better outcomes for adolescents?:  A review of the literature.

The following publications are under review and are available upon request. Please contact Jodie Roth.
        Gardner, M., Roth, J., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (under review).  Sports participation and juvenile delinquency:  Examining the role of the peer context among boys and girls with varied histories of problem behavior.  Developmental Psychology.
        Linver, M. R., Roth, J.L., Brooks-Gunn, J. (under review).  Patterns of adolescents' participation in organized activities:  Are sports best when combined with other activities?  Developmental Psychology.
       Roth, J.L., Malone, L.M., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (under review).  Greater Attendance and Involvement in Afterschool Programs and Developmental Outcomes: A Review of the Literature.  American Journal of Community Psychology.            

Funding Source: W.T. Grant Foundation.

Contact: Jodie Roth-Herbst, Ph.D.; Margo Gardner, Ph.D.

Current Social Context of Education Projects

Completed Social Context of Education Projects