The Relationship Between Extracurricular Activity

Involvement and Coping Among Urban African

American Youth
Khushbu Dalal, Allison Shimer, Ashley Doubet, Edna Romero M.A., & Maryse Richards Ph.D
Loyola University Chicago
Introduction
Studies have shown that involvement in academic and
extracurricular activities have positive effects on developmental
outcomes of adolescents (Barber, Stone, & Hunt 2003; Feldman
&Matjasko 2005, Bohnert et al. 2008). The link between
extracurricular activities and positive development is arguably due
to increased opportunities for promoting self-esteem, social
competence, and general coping that extracurricular activities
provide. Despite these conclusions, research has neglected to
examine whether the relationships hold true for ethnic minority
groups who are particularly vulnerable to stress and difficulties
coping.
Specific types or forms of coping may also be differentially
influenced by involvement in academic or extracurricular activities.
One type of coping adolescence use is avoidant coping. Avoidant
coping is generally seen as a negative way for kids to deal with
their problems because it involves completely blocking out the
stressor. However, research has shown that AfricanAmerican youth use avoidant coping as a means of feeling safe
and avoiding the dangers involved in high risk urban
environments (Edlynn, Gaylord-Harden, Richards, & Miller, 2008).
Thus, much of the coping research has overlooked the
environmental factors that are relevant to ethnic minority youth
and that contribute to the protective or beneficial role of certain
forms of coping.
To address these limitations, this study examined the
relationship between involvement in academic and extracurricular
activities and coping among a sample of urban low-income African
American adolescents.

Hypotheses
It is hypothesized that African-American youth involved in
structured, after-school activities would have increased coping
skills.

Methods
Participants
227 Students
6th grade students were followed into 7th and 8th grade
Mean Age at 6th grade: 11.65
6 different Chicago Public Schools
37% Male, 63% Female
Procedure
Youth from 6 Chicago Public Schools in urban neighborhoods
were recruited for a longitudinal study. All schools were located in
high violence, low income communities. Permission forms were
handed out for parents to review and return.
Measures:
Experience Sampling Method (ESM: Csikszentmihalyi and
Larson 1987; Larson 1989; Conner et al., 2009);
Data were collected using ESM, programmed watches and selfreport forms were utilized.
Watches were designed to signal at random twice during school
hours and every 90 minutes before/after school.
After each signal, students were asked to answer questions
regarding their activities, their companions, and their general
adjustment.
Activities were categorized as school activities, i.e. tutoring,
homework help, physical activities, i.e. sports, and structured
activities, i.e. clubs.
Adolescent Integrated Stress and Coping Scale (AISCS; Jose &
Huntsinger, 2005);
This scale is compromised of three subscales: problem-focused,
emotion-focused, and avoidant coping.
Participants were asked to identify the most violent event they
experienced in the past year and rate how often they imposed
coping strategies. Responses were measured on a 4 point scale:
0=not at all, 1 = a little, 2= some, or 3= a lot.
The scale consisted of 24 items. Subscales included 5 items for
emotion-focused coping, 6 items for avoidant coping and 5 items for
problem-focused coping. Example items include: I talked to
someone in order to feel better, I went off by myself to get away from
other people, and I thought about all of the things I could do to make
the situation better.
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Results

Conclusions and Future Directions

Regression analyses revealed that involvement in school activities, such as engaging in school activities,
including academic group work, during 6th grade predicted more avoidant coping in 7th grade even after
controlling for 6th grade coping, B = .15, = .31, t(182) = 2.26, p =.025. Participation in structured afterschool activities was a marginally significant predictor of decreased avoidant coping in 7 th grade, B = -.11,
= -.26, t(182) = -1.93, p = .057. Finally, spending time in physical activities, i.e., sports, during 7 th grade
predicted increased problem-focused coping in 8 th grade, B = .08, = .16, t(164) = 2.12, p = .036.
Regression analyses did not reveal any significant relation between extracurricular activity involvement and
emotion-focused coping in this study.

The results suggest that involvement in certain types of

extracurricular or academic activities are important
predictors of coping among African American urban youth.

Table1. Correlation Table

1

1. Problem-focused approach
2. Emotion-focused approach
3. Avoidance
4. percent time in school
activity
5. percent time physical
activity
6. percent time in structured
activities

Table 2. Predicting coping from involvement in activities

Avoidance Coping (7th grade)
Percent time in school activity (6th
grade)

.153

.309

2.26

.025*

References
-.023

Percent time in physical activity

(6th grade)
Percent time in structured
activities (6th grade)
Problem Focused Coping (8th grade)
Percent time in school activity (7th
grade)
Percent time in physical activity
(7th grade)

It was found that increased time in school activities

and increased time in physical activities predicted
increases in avoidant coping and problem-focused
coping, respectively. Furthermore, participation in
structured after school activities was marginally predictive
of decreases in avoidant coping. These findings suggest
that involvement in academic and physical activities could
help boost effective coping strategies among urban
African- American youth.
Future interventions should focus on ways to increase
involvement in extracurricular activities as a way to
increase effective coping. Additionally, further research
should see what effects avoidant coping would have on
urban African American adolescents over an extended
period of time, as well as examine how the different
components of avoidant coping affect youth. For
example, there are two different components that are a
part of avoidant coping: maladaptive avoidance (e.g.
extreme anxious avoidance) and adaptive avoidance (e.g.
sensibly taking oneself out of a dangerous situation;
Gaylord-Harden, Cunningham, Holmbeck, & Grant, 2010).
African American youth who are particularly vulnerable to
stress may use avoidant coping as a means to stay safe
from stressors in their environment.
Thus, future studies should identify how each type of
avoidant coping behavior is different in long-term use. It is
possible that some youth decide to use avoidant coping
over a long period of time when it is no longer needed. It
could also be the case that the stressors the youth is
facing need a more active style of coping, instead of
avoidance.
Although our findings didnt indicate any differences in
gender, future research should continue to assess the
constructs of gender to further analyze data.

-.033

-.467

.641

-.109

-.261

-1.91

.057

.049

.120

.936

.351

.075

.163

2.12

.036*

.006

.044

.965

.002

Percent time in structured

Note (*) p<.05
activities (7th grade)

In an effort to examine the data further, post hoc analyses were conducted to examine if the relationship
between involvement in academic and extracurricular activities and avoidant coping held true across
gender. Results indicated there were no gender differences.

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