External Information Model in a Compositional Perspective: Evaluation of Campania Adolescents’ Preferences in the Allocation of Leisure-Time

The study of preferences of leisure-time activities provides important information on the characteristics and inclinations of specific demographics. Modeling these data offers a useful insight in the identification of service demand and thus helps to define effective social strategies. Individual preferences concerning leisure-time activities of Campania region high school students are here analyzed, as expressions of a subjective perception of time and as a result of external constraints on choices. The main approach concerns: first, analyze individual changes in the allocation of time among different leisure activities and second, discern the role that external factors play in determining adolescents' preferences. The duality of the issue is addressed considering the allocation of time as a budget-time problem where individual leisure time activities constitute relative contributions to the total amount of time, adding to the model the specific characteristics of the respondents. More specifically, a methodology that combines regression and multivariate analysis (External information model) is reformulated in a compositional framework. The usefulness of the compositional approach is to preserve the adolescents' statements of preferences leading to a correct outcome when the External information model is performed. Results provided evidences that gender is an important factor of influence on adolescents' choices as well as the compound of parents' level of education and the total amount of free-time spent in a day by each individual considered

Breadth of Participation in Organized and Unstructured Leisure Activities Over Time and Rural Adolescents’ Functioning

Discretionary time outside of school offers a distinct context that can promote adolescent development; however, potential for growth depends in part on how this time is used. In this study, person-centered analyses were used to examine patterns of breadth of participation in both organized and unstructured leisure activities among rural adolescents (N = 276, 49 % female) across grades 7, 8, and 10. Adjusting for self-selection factors, the study associated these patterns with 10th grade outcomes. Three profiles of participation emerged: consistently low breadth, consistently average breadth, and consistently high breadth of involvement in both organized and unstructured leisure activities over time. The most popular activity types across profile groups were hanging out with friends, team sports, and outdoor activities. Adolescents involved in a greater breadth of organized activities reported the greatest breadth of involvement in unstructured leisure and the best functioning. Adolescents with low breadth of involvement in both organized and unstructured leisure activities consistently showed poorer outcomes. Adolescents in the high breadth of involvement profile were engaged in all activity types at higher rates than adolescents in the average and low breadth of involvement profiles. We advocate for continued efforts to increase adolescent participation in a variety of different types of out-of-school activities