Dataset Information

Leisure activities are linked to mental health benefits by providing time structure: comparing employed, unemployed and homemakers.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Unemployment has consistently been linked to negative mental health outcomes, emphasising the need to characterise the underlying mechanisms. The current study aimed at testing whether compared with other employment groups, fewer leisure activities observed in unemployment may contribute to elevated risk for negative mental health via loss of time structure.

Methods

Depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression), leisure activities (exercise, self-focused, social), and time structure (Time Structure Questionnaire (TSQ)) were assessed cross-sectionally in 406 participants (unemployed=155, employed=140, homemakers=111) recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk.

Results

Controlling for gender and age, structural equation modelling revealed time structure partially (employed, homemakers) and fully (unemployed) mediated the relationship between leisure activities and depressive symptoms. With the exception of differential effects for structured routines, all other TSQ factors (sense of purpose, present orientation, effective organisation and persistence) contributed significantly to all models.

Conclusions

These findings support the idea that especially for the unemployed, leisure activities impose their mental health benefits through increasing individuals' perception of spending their time effectively. Social leisure activities that provide a sense of daily structure may thereby be a particularly promising low-cost intervention to improve mental health in this population.

SUBMITTER: Goodman WK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5643199 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Leisure activities are linked to mental health benefits by providing time structure: comparing employed, unemployed and homemakers.

Goodman William K WK Geiger Ashley M AM Wolf Jutta M JM

Journal of epidemiology and community health 20160613 1

<h4>Background</h4>Unemployment has consistently been linked to negative mental health outcomes, emphasising the need to characterise the underlying mechanisms. The current study aimed at testing whether compared with other employment groups, fewer leisure activities observed in unemployment may contribute to elevated risk for negative mental health via loss of time structure.<h4>Methods</h4>Depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression), leisure activities (exercise, self-foc ...[more]

PMID: 27298424

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Project description:Previous studies conducted mainly among adolescents have found associations between participation in sport organised leisure-time activities (OLTAs) and mental health problems (MHP). Fewer research studies have been performed to primary school-aged children and to organised non-sport OLTAs. Therefore, the objective is to examine whether there is an association between participation in sport and non-sport OLTAs and a high risk of MHP in 4- to 12-year-olds. Data were used on 5010 children from a cross-sectional population-based survey conducted between May and July 2018 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Associations between sport OLTAs, non-sport OLTAs and breadth of OLTAs and a high risk of MHP were explored using logistic regression models adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, stressful life events and physical activity. Of all children, 58% participated in sport OLTAs and 22% in non-sport OLTAs. The proportion of children with high risk of MHP among participants in sport OLTAs is smaller than among non-participants (OR 0.66, 95% CI: 0.53, 0.81). The proportion of children with high risk of MHP among participants in non-sport OLTAs is smaller than among non-participants (OR 0.69, 95% CI: 0.53, 0.91). The proportion of children with a high risk of MHP among participants in 1 category of OLTAs (OR 0.61, 95% CI: 0.49, 0.76) and in 2-5 categories of OLTAs (OR 0.48, 95% CI: 0.32, 0.71) is smaller than among non-participants. Conclusion: The proportion of children with high risk of MHP among participants in OLTAs is smaller than among non-participants. What is Known: • Around 10--20% of children and adolescents experiences mental health problems. • Sport organised leisure-time activities have been found to be associated with a lower risk of mental health problems in adolescents. What is New: • The proportion of children with a high risk of mental health problems in participants in organised leisure-time activities is smaller than among non-participants. • The proportion of children with a high risk of mental health problems in participants with a higher breadth of organised leisure-time activities is smaller compared to non-participants.

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Dataset Information

Leisure activities are linked to mental health benefits by providing time structure: comparing employed, unemployed and homemakers.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Leisure activities are linked to mental health benefits by providing time structure: comparing employed, unemployed and homemakers.

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