After-School Extracurricular Activities Participation and Depressive Symptoms in Chinese Early Adolescents: Moderating Effect of Gender and Family Economic Status

Yangu Pan, Di Zhou and Daniel T. L. Shek
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Yangu Pan: Research Institute of Social Development, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu 611130, China
Di Zhou: Research Institute of Social Development, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu 611130, China
Daniel T. L. Shek: Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong 999077, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 7, 1-19

Abstract: Although Western studies showed that participation in extracurricular activities was intimately linked to adolescents’ psychological adjustment, very few studies have addressed this issue among early adolescents in China. Based on a nationally representative sample of 9672 Chinese junior high school students ( M age = 14.54 years, SD = 0.70 years), this study investigated the relationship between participation in different extracurricular activities and depressive symptoms among Chinese early adolescents, and the moderating role of gender and family economic status. Results indicated that time spent completing homework, attending extracurricular tutoring, and playing online games after school was positively related to students’ depressive symptoms, whereas time spent on participating in physical exercise was negatively associated with students’ depressive symptoms. Besides, the relationships between after-school activities participation and student depressive symptoms were moderated by gender and family economic status. The theoretical and practical implications for the arrangement of after-school activities for Chinese early adolescents are discussed.

Keywords: extracurricular activity; depressive symptoms; gender; family economic status; mainland China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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