Profiles of adolescent leisure motivation and substance use in the HealthWise South Africa research trial: a person-centered approach

Abstract

Engaging in intrinsically motivated behaviors, both within and outside of the leisure context, is associated with well-being. However, individuals can be driven by multiple types of motivation simultaneously, and the impact of constellations of leisure motivation is relatively unknown. The current study uses South African adolescents in the HealthWise South Africa efficacy trial (N = 2,204; M_age =14.0) to identify profiles of leisure motivation, examine the association between profiles and substance use, and evaluate the impact of HealthWise on changes in motivation profiles over time. Results indicate three distinct profiles: high consistent motivation, low consistent motivation, and high intrinsic motivation. Members of the high intrinsic profile had the lowest odds of substance use. Profiles were fairly stable across all time points except for females in a high-training intervention school. Results illustrate the importance of identifying and understanding typologies of leisure motivation and health across time, which can be used to promote positive development in adolescents.

Keywords:

• Adolescent
• leisure motivation
• latent transition analysis
• South Africa
• substance use

Acknowledgements

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health under award numbers T32DA017629 and R01DA017491.

Disclosure statement

None of the authors have any conflicts of interest to report.

Disclaimer

The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. The National Institute on Drug Abuse was not directly involved in study design, data collection, analyses, interpretation, or manuscript preparation.