title: Is Participation in Organized Leisure-Time Activities Associated with School Performance in Adolescence?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Organized leisure-time activities (OLTA) have been identified as a context suitable for improvement of school performance. This study aimed to assess the associations between participation in OLTA and school engagement, school-related stress, academic achievement and whether these associations differ by specific pattern of OLTA participation, gender and age. Furthermore, it assessed whether OLTA participants are more likely to acquire support for schoolwork from outside the family.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample concerned 10,483 adolescents (49.2% boys) aged 11, 13 and 15 from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children data collection in 2014 in the Czech Republic. Logistic regressions adjusted for gender and age were used to analyse the associations between participation in OLTA and four education-related outcomes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participation in OLTA was associated with higher school engagement, lower levels of school-related stress and better academic achievement regardless of gender and age. The strongest associations were observed for adolescents involved in various types of OLTA concurrently, with odds ratios ranging from 1.34 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.17-1.54) for lower school-related stress to 1.97 (95% CI 1.73-2.25) for above-average academic achievement. OLTA participants were also more likely to have a non-familial person to help them with schoolwork, though this association was weaker in 15-year-olds.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Youth involvement in OLTA is linked to general better school performance and attachment to school. Adolescents participating in more activities at the same time have the best school performance.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Active Lifestyle, Faculty of Physical Culture, Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Petr
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0261-018X
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Badura
authors.affiliation: Institute of Active Lifestyle, Faculty of Physical Culture, Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sigmund
authors.affiliation: Institute of Active Lifestyle, Faculty of Physical Culture, Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic.|Olomouc University for Society and Health Institute, Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic.|Department of Health Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, Safarik University, Kosice, Slovakia.|Graduate School Kosice Institute for Society and Health, Safarik University, Kosice, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Andrea Madarasova
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Geckova
authors.affiliation: Institute of Active Lifestyle, Faculty of Physical Culture, Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Dagmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sigmundova
authors.affiliation: Institute for Research of Children, Youth and Family, Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sirucek
authors.affiliation: Olomouc University for Society and Health Institute, Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic.|Graduate School Kosice Institute for Society and Health, Safarik University, Kosice, Slovakia.|Department of Community and Occupational Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jitse P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: van Dijk
authors.affiliation: Department of Community and Occupational Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Sijmen A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Reijneveld
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D018153:Czech Republic; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007899:Leisure Activities; D008297:Male; D012574:Schools