School of Psychology

Extra-curricular activities in preadolescence: Can they help socialize our children and provide developmental experiences? Children’s reports and parents’ perceptions.

Researcher     Jenny Edmonds

Supervisors      A/Prof Pia Broderick, Dr Natalie Jackson

Date:                4th December, 2008
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Introduction
Previous research has examined the effect of extra-curricular activity (ECA) on adolescents development, and increasing evidence suggests that participation in these activities is positively associated with: assisting the socialisation process, academic achievement, school engagement, psychosocial development, reduced problem behaviour and academic motivation. Although this previous research has examined the positive effect of participating in extra-curricular activities in the adolescent age group little research has examined this area in the preadolescent age group. Yet the choices young children make in regards to their ECA may have implications for their opportunities and choices in adolescence and indeed, participation rates in preadolescence are predictive of ECA participation rates in adolescence.
            It is argued that these positive outcomes are attributed to not only attendance at the out-of-school activities, but also to the participants engagement in the developmental processes these activities offer. Six developmental processes identified in previous research, that are experienced in ECA are. It has been noted that different types of activities provide differing profiles of developmental processes; where some activities provide greater experiences of some developmental processes and less experiences of other developmental processes.
            Especially important in the preadolescent age group is the development of social skills. Erikson’s psychosocial theory of development includes eight major psychosocial stages an individual must work through, in order to achieve ego identity and psychological health. Erikson’s theory proposes that the child in his/her middle childhood years is in the “industry vs. inferiority stage”, where self-competence in one’s skills, abilities and intelligence is paramount, where in this stage, the child learns to master more formal skills such as relating with peers, moving from free play to play that is structured by rules and demands teamwork, and mastering schoolwork.
Social skills form part of the socialisation process. Unfortunately a changing family and community landscape has resulted in an increasing number of children now living in families with fewer adults to act as agents of socialisation, or to offer guidance and support, and fewer connections to the community. Further highlighting the importance of social skill development is research which has established that possessing social skills is also of critical importance for children to succeed at school, and yet classroom instruction rarely includes lessons on social skills.  This research also suggested that social skills enhance academic success as well as promoting prosocial behaviour in the classroom, the playground, and in the wider community.
            Additionally it has been argued that a lack of social skills could also have a detrimental effect on mental health where a lack of social skills plays a significant role in the development of many emotional and behavioural disorders in childhood and adolescence, and suggested that enhancing social skills plays an important role in the treatment and prevention of many mental health problems. 
Ecological systems theory argues an individual’s development occurs within an environment consisting of interactive systems, both immediate (e.g., school, peer groups and family background) and distal (e.g., parents’ workplaces, older siblings’ peers and even school board decisions). Proponents of ecological systems theory suggest that these interacting systems, along with the individual’s characteristics (e.g., gender and race), directly and indirectly influence the individual’s developmental outcomes  ECA exist within other contexts (e.g., school and the community) and the developmental outcomes the activities provide are manipulated and shaped by the other surrounding contexts, such as the neighbourhood characteristics, community resources available, parenting styles and family SES. Therefore, to understand the benefit of ECA to developmental outcomes, it is imperative to examine how the ECA participation interacts with other contexts of the individual’s life. Therefore parents perceptions of their child’s experiences in extra-curricular activities were also examined. The emphasis parents place on participation in ECA influences the child’s participation and therefore mediates any benefits, or costs associated with participation. It is suggested that parents who were involved in community activities themselves, act as role models and provide awareness of similar opportunities for their children, or parents who place a strong emphasis on academic achievement may limit their child’s involvement to academic ECA to enhance school grades.
Also mediating the benefits and costs of participating in extracurricular activities in the frequency and duration of participation (i.e. the number of times they participate and how long they have been participating). In a longitudinal study it was found that the total amount of time spent in ECA was positively associated with outcomes suggesting that higher levels of participation are associated with greater developmental outcomes.

The Present Study
The objectives of the present study were to investigate the positive developmental experiences provided by preadolescent ECA (measured within and between activity categories) in the Australian context to establish if different activity categories provide differing profiles of developmental experiences, and whether frequency and duration of children’s participation mediates the level of developmental experiences reported. The fundamental role parents’ play in determining their children’s choice of activity, directed this study to examine parent’s perceptions of the developmental experiences offered in their child’s ECA and comparisons of the parents’ perceptions and the children’s reports of developmental experiences will be made.
Due to the importance of social skill development (as part of the socialisation process) in preadolescence, this study placed emphasis on social skill development within preadolescent ECA. Children’s social skill levels were measured with the objective Social Skills Rating Survey (SSRS) and ECA participator’s social skill scores were compared with non-participator’s scores.
In line with findings in the adolescent group, it was hypothesised that different activity categories would provide differing profiles of developmental experiences. It was hypothesised that higher levels of developmental experiences would be related to higher frequency and duration of participation.  It was also hypothesised that parents’ perceptions of their children’s developmental experiences in ECA will parallel those developmental experiences reported in the adolescent literature and also parallel those reported by the preadolescents. It was hypothesised that children participating in ECA would score higher on the SSRS than non-participators. Qualitative research examined reasons for choosing specific ECA, and activity participation is described.

Method
Participants: One hundred and four Year 4 children attending 13 Perth metropolitan public primary schools participated in this study. Child participants ranged in age from 8.08 to 10.00 years (M = 9.07, SD = .49) and 53% were males.

Measures:Participants identified as ECA participators completed two questionnaires: Social Skills Rating Survey and Youth Experience Survey-Primary-Child and non-participators completed the SSRS, and an activity sheet. The parents of ECA participators were required to complete the Youth Experience Survey-Primary –Parent.

Procedure: Identifying the nominated activity- The nomination of the activity to be reported on was conducted by the parent/guardian and the child together. Working together, they were asked to circle all activities listed on the first page of the YES-P-P that the child currently participated in, and then choose one of the circled activities to use as their “nominated activity”. The activities form five categories: performance, sports, church group, girl guides/scouts and academic clubs.
            A mail-out to the parents of all Year 4 students was conducted by the researcher and a school administrative staff member, and included the parent’s information letter, the YES-P-P, the parent’s consent form, the parent’s consent for their child’s involvement form and a reply paid return envelope. Parents’ of children who currently participated in an ECA were required to return both consent forms and the YES-P-P and parents of non-participators were required to return the child’s consent form. Parents were given 10 days to respond, (the close-off date was recorded on the parent’s information letter), and the testing date was scheduled for approximately one to two weeks following this, to allow for any late returns. Due to absent students on the initial day of testing, and parents’ consent forms and questionnaires being returned late, four of the 13 participating schools required more than one visit to ensure all children were tested.

Results
Factor analysis identified three dimensions being examined by the Youth Experience Survey: initiative, social skills and leadership skills.
When comparing these processes between the different activity categories it was found that experiences relating to initiative were reported more significantly by children who participated in sport more so than in the other activity categories. It was also noted that these children participated more frequently than children in the other activity categories. Although this significant difference was found it was also found that all three processes (initiative, social skills and leadership skills) were highly endorsed by children in all activity categories. Parents of children participating in performance activities perceived their children to be experiencing higher levels of initiative experiences than their children reported, and sport children reported higher levels of leadership experiences than their parent’s perceived them to be experiencing.
No difference in social skill levels were found between those children who participated in activities and those who did not participate in activities.
            Answers to the question “Why was this activity chosen for you (or your child) to participate in?” formed the basis of the qualitative data.
Parents themes for why the specific activity was chosen for their child included personal development, enjoyment and family involvement. The children’s themes included enjoyment, family involvement and health.

Discussion
This study partially supported previous findings in that activity categories did provide differing profiles of developmental processes. The reason initiative was reported more so in sport maybe due to the more intense participation found in sport than in other activity categories. It suggests that to teach initiative children need to participate in an activity more than once a week. Here, with the younger children, all three developmental processes were highly endorsed in each activity category suggesting that all activities provide an arena where children can begin to learn initiative, social skills and leadership skills.
            The lack of difference in social skill levels between participants and non-participants could suggest that ECA don’t provide an arena to help teach social skills. But as suggested by the ecological systems theory social skills are not taught in isolation in ECA, but family and schools also contribute to the socialisation process and it is more likely that children who do not participate in ECA are learning social skills in other contexts of their lives.

Further research
The impact preadolescent ECA involvement has on adolescent participation necessitates future research extending beyond the adolescent domain and examine ECA in preadolescence. As discussed, parents are a major influence on ECA participation and their role and other selection mechanisms (e.g., gender, age and race) needs to be considered and wider contextual influences need to be incorporated (e.g., parenting styles, family SES and peers) in future research to fully understand the developmental processes and the positive outcomes associated with ECA.
            This exploratory study begins to highlight that ECA in Australia provide developmental experiences that go toward creating positive outcomes in the same manner that previous US research has found in the adolescent population. In particular, sport (in that it requires concentration and frequent participation and provides intrinsic motivation) has the ability to teach preadolescents initiative, a process previously thought to belong in the adolescent ECA domain.  With the importance placed on social skills for positive integration into society, success at school, and to protect against mental health problems, and with the decline of traditional agents to assist with this process it is significant to discover that parents perceptions were correct in that preadolescent ECA are a context available to help with the socialisation of children and provide experiences associated with positive developmental outcomes.