Bohnert, A. M., Richards, M. H., Kolmodin, K. E., & Lakin, B. L. (2008). Young urban African American adolescents' experience of discretionary time activities. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 18(3), 517-539.
I read this article because Rich plopped it on my desk, which I suppose is not a very good reason. The abbreviated summary is: active structured activities take up a small portion of adolescents' discretionary time, but it is liked to highest levels of motivated engagement and confidence and lowest levels of alienation as compared to active unstructured and passive unstructured activities. Okay, I mean, that's great and all, but I could've used some more engaging discussion on why we should care about this, what it means for other outcomes (mental health, educational attainment, feelings of purpose and hope, etc.), and how this knowledge informs practice. I find myself thinking this a lot whenever I read research on very specific outcomes with a very specific population. Let's get some big picture! However, on an interesting methodological note, they did use a beeper method for self-report every 2 hours on activity particpation. Neat-o!
Rating: 7 out of 10 Jetts.
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