Connecticut College, New London, CT 06320, USA.
J Youth Adolesc. 2012 Mar;41(3):295-306. doi: 10.1007/s10964-011-9704-0. Epub 2011 Aug 4.
There is a growing concern that some youth are overscheduled in extracurricular activities, and that this increasing involvement has negative consequences for youth functioning. This article used data from the Educational Longitudinal Study (ELS: 2002), a nationally representative and ethnically diverse longitudinal sample of American high school students, to evaluate this hypothesis (N = 13,130; 50.4% female). On average, 10th graders participated in between 2 and 3 extracurricular activities, for an average of 5 h per week. Only a small percentage of 10th graders reported participating in extracurricular activities at high levels. Moreover, a large percentage of the sample reported no involvement in school-based extracurricular contexts in the after-school hours. Controlling for some demographic factors, prior achievement, and school size, the breadth (i.e., number of extracurricular activities) and the intensity (i.e., time in extracurricular activities) of participation at 10th grade were positively associated with math achievement test scores, grades, and educational expectations at 12th grade. Breadth and intensity of participation at 10th grade also predicted educational status at 2 years post high school. In addition, the non-linear function was significant. At higher breadth and intensity, the academic adjustment of youth declined. Implications of the findings for the over-scheduling hypothesis are discussed.
人们越来越担心一些年轻人的课外活动安排过于紧张，这种日益增加的参与度对年轻人的功能产生了负面影响。本文使用了美国高中生全国代表性和种族多样化的纵向样本教育纵向研究（ELS：2002）的数据来评估这一假设（N=13130；50.4%为女性）。平均而言，十年级学生参加了 2 到 3 项课外活动，每周平均 5 小时。只有一小部分十年级学生报告说参加了高水平的课外活动。此外，很大一部分样本报告说在课后时间没有参与学校的课外活动。在控制了一些人口统计学因素、先前的成绩和学校规模后，十年级时的参与广度（即课外活动的数量）和强度（即课外活动的时间）与 12 年级时的数学成绩测试分数、成绩和教育期望呈正相关。十年级时的参与广度和强度也预测了高中毕业后 2 年的教育状况。此外，非线性函数是显著的。在更高的广度和强度下，年轻人的学业调整下降。讨论了这些发现对过度安排假设的意义。
