Leisure time is considered an important context for adolescent development. The purpose of this article is to investigate what contributes to the frequency of adolescents’ participation in structured leisure activities (SLA). Participants were aged 14–21 years (M = 18.87, SD = 1.23) and 44.8% of participants were female. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted. Results indicate that boys and adolescents who perceive the context of participation in SLA as safe, are externally or intrinsically motivated, and perceive that participation has contributed to their identity development and experiences of initiative, as well as their experiences of stress, are more likely to participate frequently in SLA. On the other hand, these findings indicate that girls and adolescents who are unmotivated to participate in SLA and who experience negative peer influences while participating in SLA are less likely to frequently participate in SLA. It can be concluded that it is important to think much more broadly than just the setting of the activities themselves when promoting young people’s participation in SLA. Some of the features of SLA that promote positive youth development are presented in this paper.

Adolescence is the transitional period between childhood and adulthood during which many physical, cognitive, social and emotional changes take place, characterized by an increasing interest in romantic and sexual relationships. During adolescence, young people enter into their first sexual partnerships. This may involve behaviors referred to as sexual risk behaviors. The aim of this study was to gain insight into the prevalence of sexual risk behaviors and to determine whether socio-demographic characteristics and school-related behaviors contribute to sexual risk behaviors among adolescents, independent of participation in SLA. The study was conducted from April to June 2021 in Croatia. The sample consisted only of students who reported having had sexual intercourse (N=702; 28.6%). Participants were between 14 and 21 years (46.3% female). Logistic analyses were conducted. The results of this study showed that socio-demographic characteristics make only a limited contribution to the sexual risk behaviors studied. However, it is evident that school-related behaviors are associated with sexual risk behaviors among adolescents, with slight differences depending on their participation in SLA. That is, better grades are a protective factor for sexual risk behavior for both those who do not participate in SLA and those who do, while intentionally skipping school is a risk factor for sexual risk behavior only for those who do participate in SLA. Even though the results show that some school-related behaviors are predictors of sexual risk behavior, it is not enough to implement preventive interventions only in school or leisure settings. It is important to intervene in all areas that influence adolescent development, because a comprehensive preventive approach that addresses all areas can have a greater impact on adolescent development. Therefore, it is necessary to plan comprehensive, evidence-based interventions targeting individuals and their environments, including SLA, to prevent sexual risk behaviors among adolescents.

One of the most important contexts for adolescent development, along with family, school, and community, is leisure. However, leisure time can be associated with risk behaviours such as substance use, as adolescence is also known as a time of experimentation. This study aims to determine the extent to which adolescents’ frequency of participation in structured leisure activities (SLA), perceptions of context, motivational factors, and the experience of participating in SLA contribute to adolescents’ alcohol use (lifetime prevalence, monthly prevalence, binge drinking). Regression analyses were conducted with 1.431 high school students who reported having participated in SLA. This cross-sectional study showed that perceptions of context, motivational factors, and experience of participating in SLA contribute to adolescent alcohol use. The study confirms that leisure context can have a protective effect on the substance use path. The findings may be helpful in developing strategies and interventions within SLA context.

Svrha je ovog rada utvrditi doprinos čimbenika otpornosti u objašnjenju doživljenog vršnjačkog nasilja kao temelju planiranja znanstveno utemeljenih intervencija za promociju pozitivnog razvoja/prevenciju rizičnih ponašanja mladih. Istraživanje je provedeno na uzorku od 1647 adolescenata iz Varaždinske županije, a raspon dobi kreće se od 14 do 19 godina. Za potrebe ovog rada korišten je Upitnik o demografskim podacima (izrađen za potrebe projekta), CTC Upitnik za učenike (Mihić, Novak i Bašić, 2010) i Modificirana verzija Resilience and Youth Development Module (California Department of Education, 1997). U svrhu ostvarivanja cilja ovog istraživanja od statističkih metoda i analiza korištena je logistička regresijska analiza. Provedenom logističkom regresijskom analizom utvrđeno je da se na temelju spola, dobi, individualnih čimbenika otpornosti (suradnja i komunikacija, samoučinkovitost, empatija, rješavanja problema, samosvijest, ciljevi i aspiracije), čimbenika otpornosti u okruženju vršnjaka (visoka očekivanja – prosocijalni vršnjaci, brižni odnosi), čimbenika otpornosti u obiteljskom okruženju (visoka očekivanja, brižni odnosi, smislena uključenost) te čimbenika otpornosti u zajednici (visoka očekivanja, brižni odnosi, smislena uključenost) zajedno može objasniti 13,8% doživljenog vršnjačkog nasilja barem jednom u posljednja četiri tjedna. Prediktori koji povećavaju vjerojatnost doživljenog vršnjačkog nasilja jesu ženski spol i empatija. S druge strane prediktori koji smanjuju vjerojatnost doživljenog vršnjačkog nasilja jesu suradnja i komunikacija, samoučinkovitost, visoka očekivanja – prosocijalni vršnjaci te brižni odnosi s vršnjacima i u obiteljskom okruženju.

The aim of this paper is to give a critic overview on the context of leisure, from defining to analysing contribution of leisure to developmental outcomes of children and youth, and to reach a conclusion based on comprehensive analysis. Leisure can be viewed as an important context that promotes the positive, healthy and normative developmental pathway of adolescents. On the other hand, leisure can represent a context that carries with it risk factors for youth involvement risk behaviours. LACE Model (Leisure Activity-Context-Experience Model) is a model focused on understanding adolescent development through leisure (Caldwell, 2005; Caldwell, 2011) and is presented in this paper in greater detail. Furthermore, this paper gives an overview of research studies linking quality of leisure with youth developmental outcomes. Evaluation research of interventions based on leisure did not provide unambiguous answers regarding their efficiency, therefore a need still exists for scientific studies to find answers on the conditions in which structured leisure time, i.e., interventions in the context of children’s and youth’s leisure, can lead to positive developmental outcomes. Key words: developmental outcomes for children and youth; LACE model; leisure---Svrha ovoga rada jest kritički se osvrnuti na kontekst slobodnoga vremena, od definiranja do analize doprinosa slobodnoga vremena razvojnim ishodima djece i mladih te donijeti zaključak na temelju cjelokupne analize. Slobodno se vrijeme može promatrati kao značajni kontekst koji promovira izgradnju pozitivne, zdrave i normativne razvojne putanje adolescenata. S druge strane, slobodno vrijeme može predstavljati i kontekst koji pogoduje uključivanju mladih u rizična ponašanja i/ili razvoju problema u ponašanju. LACE Model, odnosno model slobodnih aktivnosti-konteksta-iskustva (eng. model Leisure Activity-Context-Experience), predstavlja model usmjeren na razumijevanja adolescentskoga razvoja kroz slobodno vrijeme (Caldwell, 2005; Caldwell, 2011) te je detaljnije predstavljen u radu. Isto tako, dan je pregled istraživanja koja povezuju kvalitetu slobodnoga vremena s razvojnim ishodima mladih. Evaluacijska istraživanja intervencija koje se temelje na slobodnom vremenu nisu dala jednoznačne odgovore o njihovoj učinkovitosti te ostaje potreba da se znanstvenim istraživanjima odgovori na pitanje pod kojim uvjetima strukturirano slobodno vrijeme, odnosno intervencije u kontekstu slobodnoga vremena djece i mladih, doprinose njihovim pozitivnim razvojnim ishodima.Ključne riječi: LACE model; slobodno vrijeme; razvojni ishodi djece i mladih

The Circumplex Model of Marital and Family Systems is one of the most widely used approaches in family studies. This model assumes that family communication is an important element in achieving positive family functioning because it allows family members to alter their levels of flexibility and cohesion. While this theoretical approach has been widely used and tested there are still some gaps in the empirical evidence on the universality of its assumptions. Considering that adolescents today live in a wide variety of families, that are very diverse according to their structures, it is important from an ethical standpoint to test the universality of any theoretical framework that is used in family interventions. This study therefore sought to investigate whether there are differences in satisfaction with family life and family communication in families with different structures and whether family communication is an important correlate of satisfaction with family life in all types of families, using data from a study of adolescents from Zagreb, Croatia (N = 4 821). Linear regression was used to evaluate the association of family satisfaction (dependent variable) with family communication and parental marital status (predictor variables) with the additional inclusion of interaction effects between family communication and parental marital status. The results of this study have shown that adolescents are generally satisfied with their family life and that there are differences in perceived family satisfaction and family communication between adolescents regarding the marital status of their parents. The results presented in this paper support the main hypothesis that in families with adolescents, family communication is strongly associated with family satisfaction, independently of parental marital status. The findings suggest that interventions aimed at improving family communication skills inadolescent families could benefit all families with adolescents.