Extracurricular activities and group belonging as a protective factor in adolescence

Sports play an important role in the social relationships linked to it.

The demands of competitive sports carry with them the development of psychological competences such as tolerance and the overcoming of challenges ( Ruiz, de la Vega, Poveda, Rosado, & Serpa, 2012 ). They are beneficial to self-concept and tend to decrease the symptomatology of anxiety and depression ( Candel, Olmedilla, & Blas, 2008 ), as well as the depression related to low academic achievement, particularly in females ( Gore, Farrell, & Gordon, 2001 ). Other studies in Latin America reported a positive relation between the systematic practice of sports and different processes, including self-esteem, autonomy, conviction, and the use of adequate coping skills ( Broche, Diago, & Herrera, 2012 ). Also, results reported by López, Balaguer, Castillo and Tristán, 2011 indicated that it is athletes’ involvement in the task, and not the ego, the one that has a predictive validity over motivation and, in turn, over self-esteem.

On the contrary, research conducted by Molina, Castillo, and Pablos (2007) did not find any differences in the self-esteem of people that practice sports, in comparison to those that do not. In the same way, Hume et al. (2011) did not find any relation between the practice of sports and an individual's symptoms of depression.

Harju, Luukkonen, Hakko, Rasanen, and Riala (2011) concluded that it is team sport, not the practice of individual sport, what decreases the risk for depression. Moreover, they found that males participating in team sport reported a decreased in the onset of affective disorders, but some males also reported an increase in behavioral problems.

It should be noted that, in some occasions, sport groups could be a risk factor in facilitating contact with drug users and drug circulation ( Moreno, 2002 ), or even be associated with alcohol consumption ( Denault, Poulin, & Pedersen, 2009 ).

Since its nings, The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) has promoted the service to both country and community, through leadership, outdoors living, and the creation of social support. Several studies have been conducted worldwide studying some of the characteristics of this movement that could favored adolescents, especially in the development of social capital, connection with the community ( Polson, Kim, Jang, Johnson, & Smith, 2013 ), self-esteem (Royse, 1998 ), and an adequate development of citizenship, all of this through the development of self-regulation skills and the consolidation of human rights ( Mills, 2013).

It is worth mentioning the work by Rohm and Osula (2013) , who studied the relationship between the scout model and the leadership models centered in volunteering. They found that the scout model mainly favors the characteristics of voluntary subordination, being authentic, relationship by commitment, moral responsibility, spiritual transcendence, and transforming influence.

Among the studies that have covered the effects of religion in adolescents, the one by Francis (2013) d the purpose of life in a sample of adolescents aged 13 to 15. Results showed that both implicit and explicit religiosity (the one that besides the belief also implies the practice of ritual) are beneficial to creating a purpose of life in adolescents.

The study by Hodge, Marsiglia, and Nieri (2011) found that for adolescents of Hispanic origin, mere religious affiliation is not associated with a decrease in the use of drugs; nevertheless, the assistance by and integration in a social religious network does predict lower probability in the use of marijuana and inhalants.

When analyzing the different dimensions related to Christian religiosity, Grier and Gudiel (2011) found that in the face of antisocial behaviors, the influence of peers is stronger than the belonging to a religious group. However, the variables of social justice and interest in the Bible did predict pro-social behaviors and maintain a negative correlation with peer pressure. For this reason, they concluded that religiosity could contribute to positive decision-making in adolescents.

Existing evidence of the relationship between religiosity and affective variables such as depression and wellbeing are contradictory. A study conducted with Muslim adolescents found a positive correlation between religiosity, happiness, and physical and mental health, and a negative correlation between religiosity and anxiety and depression (Abdel-Khalek, 2007). On the contrary, a study conducted amongst German adolescents, whose culture gives less importance to religion, did not find statistically significant correlations between the variables of religious involvement and the happiness-depression scale ( Wenger, 2011 ). Finally, a study conducted with a multicultural sample found that the sense of personal religiosity maintains a predictive validity for coping with stress, even while controlling variables such as neighborhood and gender ( Amhed, Fowler, & Toro, 2011 ).

Volunteering can be defined from attributes such as helping, cooperating, and empathy, which distinguish pro-social behavior. It relates to a long-term planned action that occurs within an organized context and involves non-mandatory action ( Omoto & Snyder, 1995).

An important factor among volunteering groups is probably the social support which is obtained from them. There is evidence that people who do not count with a social or family support network tend to remain for a longer time as volunteers, in an attempt to keep determined levels of social support ( Arias & Barrón, 2008). The study conducted by Vecina and Chacón (2005) indicates that experiencing positive emotions through volunteering can predict the permanency in the volunteer group. On the other hand, a relationship has been found between volunteer work and life satisfaction, where volunteers performing social assistance showed a higher level of satisfaction with life, compared to those who perform environmental work ( Dávila & Díaz, 2005).

Aguilar, Bedau, and Anthony (2009) considered that artistic environments based on the community are proper for meeting the needs of young people regarding emotional intelligence, given that arts offer structures, dynamics, and systems that allow the adolescent to express their emotions and develop positive relations. They also favor the consolidation of identity, imagination, perspective, the search for meaning ( Perrin, 2004 ), and the authentic expression of oneself. Artistic groups also promote an individual and a group sense of achievement, group cohesion, and the flourishing of participants in such experiences ( Kane, 2013).

As a protective factor, Denault et al. (2009) found a positive correlation between the number of hours dedicated to carry out artistic activities in an organized way and a decrease in participants’ depressive symptoms.

It should be pointed out that most of the studies focused on using arts as a group therapeutic intervention, which have shown to foster positive characteristics between adolescents in vulnerable conditions ( Heejeong & Sunnam, 2012; Slayton, 2012 ) or in situations of social imbalance ( Kim et al., 2006 ). For this reason, studying the effects that belonging to an artistic group has on a community population becomes very important, particularly as a strategy that could contribute to the prevention of anxiety, depression, or disruptive behaviors.

In sum, international programs that search for the positive development of young people suggested that successful experiences imply a positive and constant relationship with an adult, the practice of activities that develop life skills, and the opportunity of young people for using such skills in activities that are highly valued in the community ( Lerner & Lerner, 2013 ). The purpose of this study was to identify if the involvement in extracurricular activities and group belonging could be protective factors associated with a better mental health during the adolescence stage.

Table 1 presents the means obtained for each of the groups in the measures related to positive indicators of mental health, as well the results of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) and its respective analysis according to the Tukey post-hoc test.

As reported on Table 1 , the groups that got statistically significant higher scores on most of the measures were scout, artistic, and sport groups. Results obtained by the volunteering and gang groups stand out, as they reported the lowest scores on the positive indicators of mental health. Results indicated that belonging to artistic and scout groups reported a statistically significant correlation with higher levels of emotional intelligence, and belonging to sports and artistic groups reported a statistically significant correlation with higher levels of resilience.

Results obtained from the measures on negative indicators of mental health are presented in Table 2 . No statistically significant differences were observed to be reported for those variables related to internalizing problems, except for the negative self-esteem subscale of the CDI. In this subscale, students that belonged to sports groups reported higher scores, when compared to those adolescents that belonged to a gang. For externalizing problems, such as disruptive behaviors, a statistically significant higher risk was found for those adolescents that belonged to some gang.

With the purpose of identifying a possible effect of the variables of age and gender in the differences found by the ANOVA, a linear regression analysis was conducted including dummy variables codified according to the group they belonged to. The results of the regressions wherein group belonging keeps its statistical significance after controlling for age and gender are presented in Table 3 for protective factors and in Table 4 for risk factors. Statistical significance was lost only in the variables related to Family Cohesion and Intrapersonal Competence. In the rest of the variables, statistical significance remained for group belonging, even when the predictive level was reported as low.

The mental health status of an adolescent could be determined by the presence of negative indicators including symptoms of anxiety, depression, and disruptive behaviors, as well as the presence of positive indicators, such as emotional intelligence and resilience. These last ones have recently become extremely important given their impact among the different dimensions of human development. According to various authors, resilience is the combination of internal and external protective factors that help the individual to overcome setbacks without suffering a permanent damage in their development or psychological condition ( González, 2007; Hjemdal et al., 2006 ). Additionally, resilience has been explained by three categories of protective factors: positive individual factors, family support, and belonging to a support network, besides the family ( Von Soest, Mossige, Stefansen, & Hjemdal, 2010 ).

Scientific research dedicated to investigating protective factors and their influence on adolescent's mental health has represented an important task, one that has allowed us to develop effective strategies to improve our adolescents’ wellbeing. The impact of protective factors, such as family and school, has been frequently investigated ( Blum, McNeely & Rinehart, 2002; Isaza & Henao, 2011; Resnick, 1997; Ruvalcaba, Gallegos, Villegas, & Lorenzo, 2013 ). However, few studies have explored the protective impact that other groups could have on adolescents’ mental health.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between belonging to a social group and the positive and negative mental health indicators in Mexican adolescents. Our hypothesis was that belonging to a social group, regardless of group type, would be related to a better mental health status in terms of higher levels of emotional intelligence and resilience, and lower symptoms of anxiety, depression, and disruptive behaviors. Our hypothesis was partially confirmed, given that only those adolescents involved in artistic, sports, and/or scout groups reported significantly higher levels of emotional intelligence and resilience.

Other authors have found similar results ( Aguilar et al., 2009; Heejeong & Sunnam, 2012; Kim et al., 2006; Slayton, 2012 ), where arts prove to be an excellent way for the expression of emotions, the development of positive relationships, identity consolidation, and sense of achievement ( Kane, 2013; Perrin, 2004 ). Similar abilities have proven to be promoted as well by scout groups, where one of their main activities is providing social support. Scouts adolescents are benefited from creating community bonds and from constantly practicing self-regulation in favor of good citizenship. These practices help them to have a better image of themselves, which in turn increases their self-esteem and self-concept ( Mills, 2013; Royse, 1998).

Results from this study also agreed that sports groups could help adolescents in increasing their resilience through their social support system and a sense of belonging. In fact, healthy interpersonal relationships have been identified as one of the five pillars of human wellbeing and flourishing ( Seligman, 2012 ). Different researchers, including Ruiz et al. (2012) , have also found that the demands from sports promote tolerance and self-improvement and increase self-concept and the use of proactive coping skills ( Broche et al., 2012; López et al., 2011 ), all of them related to emotional intelligence and resilience.

“Flow” is another important factor that could have also contributed to the higher positive scores reported by those belonging to artistic, sport, and scout groups. The flow experience has been also identified by Dr. Martin Seligman (2012) as one of the five pillars of wellbeing and human flourishing. Typically characterized by a concentration, motivation, and absorption state while undertaking an activity, the flow experience encourages us to use our potential to the limit, which leaves us with a sense of happiness and achievement ( Csikszentmihalyi, 1990).

Contrary to our hypotheses, results showed that the adolescents involved in volunteering groups reported the lowest scores in mental health, except for those involved in gangs. One possible reason could be that some of the adolescents who participate in volunteering groups are precisely those who do not have a strong sense of belonging and a social support network ( Arias & Barrón, 2008 ). Therefore, they try to find them through their involvement in volunteering groups.

Another unexpected finding, contrary to what has been reported by several authors (e.g., Abdel-Khalek, 2007; Amhed et al., 2011 ), was that belonging to religious groups did not report a statistically significant difference in the emotional intelligence and resilience of the participants.

Furthermore, no social group in this study reported a statistically significant relationship with anxiety or depression, probably because both variables are more related to individual and family factors than to social support.

This study found that adolescents’ who belonged to gangs engaged more in antisocial behaviors. The study of Mahoney and Stattin (2000) found similar results that suggest that unstructured activities wherein the meetings occur randomly and that do not have formal rules, schedules, and an adult as a leader could favor the engagement in this risky behaviors.

Results from this study showed that those adolescents that belonged to artistic, sport, and/or scout social groups reported higher levels of emotional intelligence and resilience in comparison to those who do not belong to any group or belonged to a different type of group. This is a promising finding that highlights the benefits of using these social groups as avenues to increase adolescents’ positive development.

Contrary to our hypotheses, no statistically significant results were found suggesting that belonging to a social group directly helps in the prevention of anxiety or depression. Further research should evaluate possible group variables that could predict or moderate this relationship. Some of the variables might be the number of adults per adolescents in the group, the level of emotional intelligence and resilience of adults that lead and supervise the social group's activities, the specific time, duration, and intensity of the activities, and the adolescent's socioeconomic level ( Denault et al., 2009).

Because individual, contextual, and family factors could also impact this relationship ( Mahoney & Stattin, 2000 ), further research should also consider the particular circumstances that surround Mexican adolescents. To illustrate, the First National Survey of Exclusion, Intolerance and Violence in Public Middle Schools and High Schools ( SEP, 2008 ) showed that about 35% of the students had insulted and rejected their classmates, and 40% had ignored them. The presence of youth gangs is also high in Mexico. A study conducted by the Secretary of Public Safety in 2010 revealed the existence of nearly 9,384 gangs throughout the country, who had gone through common illegal activities such as robbery and infringement to be associated with organized crime, into activities such as drugs, prostitution, and human and gun trafficking.

A recent study by Benjet, Borges, Medina-Mora, Zambrano, and Aguilar-Gaxiola (2009) found that almost 40% of Mexican adolescents have suffered from some mental health problem ( Benjet et al., 2009 ), where anxiety was reported as the most common. Likewise, a study conducted by the Secretary of Public Education ( Secretaría de Educación Pública, SEP, 2010 ) showed that 65% of Mexican adolescents reported constant feelings of sadness and loneliness and 50% said they were afraid and felt rejected, plus a high percentage of students that had been bullied or had bullied others. In a context like this, increasing adolescents’ mental health is a top priority. Continuing the research on protective factors is crucial to accomplishing this task as well as the evaluation of prevention programs that foster adolescents’ positive development.

The authors of this article declare no conflict of interest.