Extra-Curricular Involvement and Self-Regulation in Children

Abstract

The present research investigated the relationship between extra-curricular involvement (ECI) and self-regulated behaviours in 8 to 9 year old children, and identified sex, location, and socio-economic status (SES) differences in their ECI and self-regulatory behaviours. 550 children from 44 schools in Queensland and New South Wales, Australia completed the Child Self-Regulatory Process Inventory and questions about their ECI. Nearly 90% of students were involved in at least one extra-curricular activity with the mean number of activities being 1.27. Girls and urban children were significantly more involved in school-based extra-curricular activities than their male and rural counterparts; there were no significant differences among SES groups. Urban children and children in the high SES group reported significantly greater involvement for non-school based activities. For the three self-regulation strategies, girls scored significantly higher than boys. Moreover, children in the high ECI group reported significantly greater use of self-regulation strategies than children in the low ECI group and were more efficacious-persistent than children in both the low and medium ECI groups. implications of findings are discussed in light of the need for quality extra-curricular programs, especially in terms of emotional climate and self-directed activities.

Keywords::

• extra-curricular involvement
• school based activities
• non-school based activities
• self-regulation
• children