This research is based, in part, on a concern relating to the large gap between young Korean's material well-being (e.g., family income and housing) and their subjective well-being (SWB). Various reports indicate that Korean youth are unhappy, and statistics show that suicide was the leading cause of death among Korean youth between the ages of 15 and 24 in the recent decade. This research examined whether children's participation in youth activities affects their SWB.
The data used for this investigation was accessed from KCYPS, a longitudinal dataset collected by the Korea National Youth Policy Institute. Participants, representing 78 middle schools nationwide, were 13 years old in 2010 and consequently 15 in 2012. Data collected in 2010 served as baseline for this longitudinal study. The data analyzed for this study was based on over 2000 participants in both 2010 and 2012. Three measures of SWB were used: happiness, joy, and worry. Additional data included information about the youths' participation in nine categories of activities: health, science information, international exchange, adventure (emphasizing outdoor adventure), culture and art, volunteerism, vocational experience, environment protection, and self-development.
Overall findings showed that more hours spent on youth activities was positively associated with higher levels of happiness and joy. Not all activities, however, were associated in the same way with students' SWB. Some activities -- including adventure and environmental programs – were associated with a higher level of SWB than other programs or activities. Other activities, especially activities focusing on self-development, were associated with lower levels of happiness and joy. While generally there was no significant association between participation in activities and worry, adventure activities tended to be associated with lower worry.
These findings are consistent with other research showing that activities in the natural environment are associated with overall psychological improvement. These results also suggest that schools and the government would do well to provide more opportunities for students to participate in various activities, especially activities in the natural environment.
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