Many middle-class parents say they feel pressure to give their sons and daughters every opportunity -- violin, soccer, ballet, Scouts -- and then worry that their children are overextended to the point of harm.
"I found the opposite of what I expected," said Sandra L. Hofferth, director of the Maryland Population Research Center at the University of Maryland at College Park and lead author of a research paper released this year that will be part of a book.
Hofferth said she had "started out with a pretty solid belief that lots and lots of activities are bad for children." But she said the data showed otherwise: A higher level of activity was not linked to such stress symptoms as depression, anxiety, alienation and fearfulness.
"We just don't find that the children who are more active are more stressed," she said.
For more insight, we talked to Dr. Hofferth about the research and the article:
Healthy Turtle: What initially attracted you to this research area?
Dr. Sandy Hofferth: There are a number of books on the shelf and reports that children are stressed out and anxious because they have too many activities. The American Academy of Pediatrics recently came out with such a report but the evidence is scarce.
As a scientist, I wanted to see whether it was true. I have national data from 24-hour diaries of children's activities for two days in a week and data on a scale of child anxiety and child self-esteem. I divided children 9-12 into 4 groups - hurried (3 or more activities or 4+ hours - 25%), balanced (2 activities and fewer than 4 hours -25%), focused (1 activity and fewer than 4 hours- 33%), and uninvolved (no activities- 17%).
HT: What were the most compelling findings from your study?
SH: We conducted intensive interviews with parents and children and examined the national data statistically. The most important point is that some parents pointed to instances in which their child was stressed and anxious but that they recognized this and immediately reduced the number of activities. There were several points: only about one-quarter of children 9-12 could be considered hurried; the majority are balanced and focused. Hurried children did not differ from balanced and focused children in stress levels. The children who were not involved were the most anxious, fearful, alienated and with the lowest self-esteem.
My conclusion: children are resilient and do well with many activities. Today, children who are not involved are at the greatest risk for behavior problems perhaps because their existing problems are barriers to their participation in activities that could otherwise reduce stress and improve their well-being.
HT: Were you excited that your research found its way into the Washington Post?
SH: The Washington Post worked with me to develop a story that is appealing, interesting, and accurate. I appreciate that.
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Dr. Sandra L. Hofferth is a Professor in the Department of Family Science and the Director of the Maryland Population Research Center. To read the entire article, visit this Web site.
nice post...thanks
ReplyDeleteI have found that children who spend too much time "in their heads" have a bigger problem with stress and anxiety. As the post suggests, the children who participate in activities have fewer such problems.
ReplyDelete"My conclusion: children are resilient and do well with many activities. Today, children who are not involved are at the greatest risk for behavior problems perhaps because their existing problems are barriers to their participation in activities that could otherwise reduce stress and improve their well-being"....
ReplyDeleteAn interesting point, It is estimated that up to 10% of children in America today have an underlying childhood anxiety.Why is this? is it only because of the parents inability to recognize problems or because of denial? These symptoms are easy to spot and should be dealt with quickly to avoid developing into a major disorder.
I agree that children shouldn't have many activities too reduce their stress and anxiety. Parents should give time to talk to their children,communicate with them. In this way they relieve their children's stress and they will know what their children feel.
ReplyDeleteI am finding more and more students are coming to us to deal with anxiety. Anxiety from exams, general school, classroom interactions, extracurricular activities, etc.
ReplyDeleteThey display classic symptoms, yet don't know what is happening to them, which is accelerating this process of anxiety.
With the first step taken of educating these students, they quickly learn the physical and thought process which helps them manage.
Really interesting results. I suppose it is too often taken as "obvious" that too many activities is a major contributor to child anxiety, but maybe that's not as much the case after all. It's precisely this sort of examination of the "obvious" that is so beneficial in eliminating causes and leading us to answers that push our understanding on psychology forward and help everyone. Nice work challenging assumptions!
ReplyDeleteRich Presta
http://www.anxietyfreechildren.com
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ReplyDeleteEmlak
Thanks for such a good article. I stumbled upon another great article which tell you how to reduce sress with hypnosis.
ReplyDeleteFrom a neuropsychological perspective this finding makes a lot of sense. Children have a developing frontal cortex and thus their executive functioning is also limited. Being involved in organised activities almost acts as their frontal lobes for them. I imagine that this would also reduce stress.
ReplyDeleteA most encouraging finding!!
Dr Nathaniel Popp (Consultant Neuropsychologist)
www.neurodynamics.com.au
I guess it makes sense live a simple life and to teach children to do the same thus avoiding much anxiety - ocala doctors
ReplyDeleteI missed this article when it came out. This is an interesting finding and definitely contrary to what I would have expected. My child is not overly scheduled because we live in the middle of nowhere surely his chasing chickens and hiking will help with his stress and anxiety as well
ReplyDeleteI also missed this when it came out. A very interesting study result. I am very familiar with the concern of parents about a student's involvement with ballet - every possible hour devoted to it. Yet I have always thought that it is an absorbing distraction from the "normal" growing up obsessions with popularity, fashion, and other social pecking orders that literally drive kids crazy. And the discipline and skill developed can't be replaced. A great read! Enjoyed the comments too.
ReplyDeletenice post thank you very much
ReplyDeleteThere are two types of 'many activities' though, there are the children that WANT to do all of the different activities and enjoy them, and there are the children that are pushed forward by their parents because they 'want them to have all the opportunities possible'.
ReplyDeleteI see nothing wrong with the first kind and if the children are enjoying themselves - great!
Mel