Extracurricular Participation and its Correlates among Chinese College Students

• Main Authors: Jie Zhang (Author), Zheng Zhao (Author), Qiong Wu (Author), David Lester (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Archives of Sports Medicine and Physiotherapy - Peertechz Publications, 2016-05-20.
• Subjects: Research Article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.

<p><strong>Aims: </strong>The aim of this study was to identify the factors that influence the participation in extracurricular activities of Chinese university students.<br></p><p><strong>Methods:</strong> We used data collected in surveys on a university campus in Beijing China from 2007 to 2011. Extracurricular participation is a self-reported item, and the independent variables include the students' demographics and measures psychopathology.</p><p><strong>Results:</strong> Demographic variables such as gender, political affiliation, and leadership participation, and psychological factors such as depression, social support and satisfaction with major were all associated with extracurricular participation.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>A lower level of extracurricular participation was related to higher scores on a measure of depression. Since students' participation in extracurricular activities can improve college students' mental health, extracurricular activities should be promoted on Chinese college campuses.</p>