Adolescent extracurricular activity participation: Associations with parenting stress, mother–adolescent closeness, and social skills

This study aims to examine how the individual and contextual characteristics of adolescents are related to their extracurricular activity (ECA) participation. Mothers’ parenting stress, mother–adolescent closeness, and adolescents’ social skills were examined, and their associations with adolescent ECA participation were determined. Using a sample of adolescents and their biological mothers from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 3146), path analysis was conducted, and two hypotheses were supported. First, mothers’ parenting stress was indirectly associated with the breadth and intensity of ECA participation through mother–adolescent closeness and adolescent social skills. Second, parenting stress also had a direct association with adolescent social skills, leading to a decrease in the breadth and intensity of ECA. This study highlights the need to focus on the psychosocial characteristics of adolescents and their families for an in-depth understanding of adolescent ECA participation.