Student Council, Volunteering, Basketball, or Marching Band

TLDR

The study examined how participation in five activity types—prosocial, team sports, school involvement, performing arts, and academic clubs—relates to positive and negative developmental outcomes and investigated peer associations and activity-based identity as potential mediators. The analysis used a sample of 1,259 mostly European American adolescents, roughly equal in gender, to assess these relationships. Prosocial involvement predicted better educational trajectories and lower risky behavior, while team sports also predicted better education but increased alcohol use; differences were partly explained by variations in peer associations and activity-based identities.

Abstract

We examined the potential benefits and risks associated with participation in five types of activities: prosocial (church and volunteer activities), team sports, school involvement, performing arts, and academic clubs. Our sample included 1,259 mostly European American adolescents (approximately equal numbers of males and females). First, we explore the link between involvement in these activities and our indicators of positive and negative development. Involvement in prosocial activities was linked to positive educational trajectories and low rates of involvement in risky behaviors. In contrast, participation in team sports was linked to positive educational trajectories and to high rates of involvement in one risky behavior, drinking alcohol. Then, we explore two possible mediators of these associations: peer associations and activity-based identity formation. The evidence supported our hypothesis that group differences in peer associations and activity-based identities help explain activity group differences.