Summary:
The present study examines the relationship between the leisure activities and the emotional state of students in fifth and sixth grade. More specifically, it was examined whether the integration of teenagers in leisure activities affects their self-esteem, their trait-anxiety and their mood state. 80 students, aged 10-12, participated in this study. Overall, the majority of children were girls and were in the fifth grade of elementary school. In addition, most students were 11 years old, while lower percentages were recorded at age of 12 and 10 years respectively. Moreover, the vast majority of the sample stated that they are involved in sports.
Tools that were used are: (1) Self-esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965) for the assessment of self-esteem, (2) State/Trait Anxiety Inventory (Speilberger, Gorsuch, & Lushere, 1970) for the assessment of trait anxiety and (3) Profile of Mood States, POMS (McNair, Kerr & Droppleman, 1971) for the evaluation of the mood. The results showed that Self-esteem doesn’t show correlation with the independent variables of the research. Regarding the connection between the leisure activities and the trait anxiety, there is correlation with the student’s sex, given the fact that girls show the higher rates. As far as the examination of the relationship between the extracurricular athletics and the mood states, the research findings vary. Initially, it was found that older children are more active and show lower rates of depression. In addition, higher levels of activity were observed in children of the sixth grade in comparison with the fifth grade children, with this difference being recorded as statistically significant. Finally, it is an important fact that from all the variables related to sports, the frequency of activity per week seems to have played the most important role in the mental mood of the children. Specifically, children who exercised 2-3 times a week showed higher levels of activity and lower standards of confusion, depression and tension at the same time, while the pre-adolescents who were engaged in extracurricular sports once a week were found to have more tension.
Keywords:
leisure activities, pre-adolescence, self-esteem, anxiety, mood of state
