Preliminary Effects of a Leisure Education Program to Promote Healthy Use of Free Time among Middle School Adolescents

Abstract

This paper documents the development and first year evaluation of the Time Wise: Learning Lifelong Leisure Skills curriculum, which aims to increase positive free time use, and mitigate or prevent the initiation of substance use and abuse. The sample was comprised of 634 school youth attending nine middle schools in a rural area in eastern United States. Results from self-report data indicate that students who received the Time Wise curriculum reported being less amotivated and more motivated by identified and introjected forms of motivation. Students in Time Wise reported being better able to restructure boring situations into something more interesting; having higher levels of decision making skills, initiative, community awareness; and participating in new interests, sports, and nature-based activities.

KEYWORDS:

• Adolescents
• free time
• healthy time use
• leisure education
• prevention