title: Extracurricular Activities and Bullying Perpetration: Results From a Nationally Representative Sample.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Bullying is a widespread problem for school-aged children and adolescents. Interventions to reduce bullying are not well disseminated. Extracurricular involvement is, however, common. This study aims to examine the relationship between parent-reported participation in extracurricular activities and bullying perpetration.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using the 2011 National Survey of Children's Health, 62,215 interviews with parents of children 6 to 17 were analyzed. Extracurricular categories of sports only, sports + nonsport, nonsport only, and no activities were based on parental response to questions regarding sport teams/lessons, clubs, and organizations. Bullying was derived from report of the child "bullying or being cruel/mean to others." Weighted bivariate analyses, logistic regression, and sex/race/ethnicity/age stratified analyses were conducted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eighty percent of children participated in extracurricular activities: 8% sports, 48% sports + nonsports, and 24% nonsports. Bullying perpetration was reported in 15% of the sample. Compared with those not participating in extracurricular activities, the odds of bullying were significantly lower for children who participated in sports + nonsports (Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 0.67, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.57-0.79) and nonsport only (AOR 0.82, 95% CI 0.70-0.97). Stratified analyses showed attenuated effects of extracurricular activities for boys and for Hispanics.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Children who participate in a variety of extracurricular activities exhibit the least frequent bullying perpetration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Injury Prevention Center of Rhode Island Hospital, 593 Eddy Street, Potter Building, Suite 200, Providence, RI 02903. ariese@lifespan.org.
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Riese
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Brown University, School of Public Health, PO Box G-121S, Providence, RI 02912. annie_gjelsvik@brown.edu.
authors.forename: Annie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gjelsvik
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Injury Prevention Center of Rhode Island Hospital, Alpert Medical School, Brown University, 593 Eddy Street, Claverick 2, Providence, RI 02903. mranney@lifespan.org.|Department of Health Services, Policy, and Practice, Brown University, School of Public Health, 593 Eddy Street, Claverick 2, Providence, RI 02903. mranney@lifespan.org.
authors.forename: Megan L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Ranney
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D058445:Bullying / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007899:Leisure Activities; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010290:Parents; D012919:Social Behavior; D012923:Social Class; D013177:Sports / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: bullying; extracurricular school activities; risk behaviors; sports