Associations Between Multiple Leisure Activities, Mental Health and Substance Use Among Adolescents in Denmark: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Previous research has suggested that leisure activity may benefit mental health and protect against substance use among adolescents, but more research is needed to asses associations with a wide range of outcomes. The aim of this study was to assess associations between multiple leisure activities and (1) mental health outcomes and (2) substance use outcomes in a sample of Danish adolescents.Methods: Using data from the Danish part of the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) collected in 2019, nation-wide cross-sectional data from 2,488 participants aged 15 or 16 in Denmark were analyzed to assess associations between number of leisure activity types and outcomes pertaining to mental health and substance use.Results: Our results show that engaging in multiple activity types at least once a week—as compared to one single type of activity—is associated with increased odds for high mental well-being, and reduced odds for mental health problems. Engaging in multiple activity types is also associated with reduced odds for overall substance use and for using substances as a coping method. Among those using substances, engaging in multiple activity types is associated with reduced odds of above average substance use.Conclusion: Increasing opportunities for adolescents to engage in leisure activities is suggested to be useful in enhancing mental health and preventing substance use and promoting mental health. Promoting and increasing access to leisure activities among adolescents could be a promising avenue for policy and practice.

Twenty-One Reasons for Implementing the Act-Belong-Commit—‘ABCs of Mental Health’ Campaign

“…As noted in Reason #9, Act-Belong-Commit provides a simple framework and a common language for cross-sectoral and cross-disciplinary action [ 51 ]. Act-Belong-Commit can be incorporated in a variety of social issues in collaboration with a variety of government departments: for example, general health promotion campaigns in areas such as physical activity and healthy eating (i.e., stay physically active; join group activities such as team sports, walking groups and cooking classes; take responsibility for others in your care; learn new physical and food preparation skills) and civic responsibility (e.g., ‘commit to’: anti-littering, recycling, restoration; road safety and injury prevention; helping others and volunteering; care for the environment) [ 75 , 76 , 77 ]. This allows for mental health policies to be enacted across government departments and has proved to be helpful in establishing new and more efficient types of collaboration around mental health promotion [ 51 ].…”

Exploring factors associated with student wellbeing in the United Arab Emirates: PISA 2018

“…Dissatisfaction with how adolescents used their time emerged as a critical correlate of wellbeing, much as it does in the literature (i.e., Ahn & Yoo, 2022;Doré et al, 2019;Martins et al, 2021;Oberle et al, 2020;Santini et al, 2020). Their dissatisfaction may reflect the fact that excessive hours spent studying are also associated with less sleep and activity (Yoo, 2020).…”

“…Finally, how students spend their time also matters. Youth engaging in many extracurricular activities versus one or none, are less apt to engage in screen-based activity and more likely to report greater LS and less anxiety and depression (Doré et al, 2019;Martins et al, 2021;Santini et al, 2020). Increased time spent on homework on weekdays and weekends is associated with depressive symptoms adjusting for time spent on other activities: this is increasingly the case in academically competitive Asian cultures in Korea, Japan and China (Yeo et al, 2020).…”

Assessing the impact of sports and recreation facility density within school neighbourhoods on Canadian adolescents’ substance use behaviours: quasi-experimental evidence from the COMPASS study, 2015–2018

“…Leisure plays a large role in how individuals find life purpose and meaningfully engage with life, 45 46 and leisure activities have been shown to promote youth health and protect against behaviours such as substance use. 47 As such, availability of community resources that offer spaces for youth to engage in recreation and leisure may promote health in a variety of ways, including being protective against substance use behaviours.…”