Date Presented 3/30/2017
This large cross-sectional time-use study empirically examined, for the first time, the relationship between participation in daily activity and self-reported health-related quality of life for school-going youth in Ireland.
Primary Author and Speaker: Elizabeth Anne McKay
Contributing Authors: Anthony P. Fitzgerald, Ivan Perry
PURPOSE: The health, well-being, and positive development of youth is a priority for occupational therapy (Bendixen & Kreider, 2011) and society at large (Patton et al., 2016). Time use, a defining interest within occupational therapy and occupational science (Hunt & McKay, 2015a), is now recognized as a determinant and indicator of youth well-being internationally (Hunt & McKay, 2015b). However, limited empirical research has examined time use in relation to health, well-being, and quality of life for adults and youth alike (Hunt & McKay, 2015b).
DESIGN: This quasi-experimental, cross-sectional study examined the time use and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of a randomly selected group of Irish youths ages 15–19 yr in full-time education who were living at home. Two 24-hr diaries (one weekday and one weekend day) and the KIDSCREEN–52 HRQoL instrument were completed by 731 adolescents (response rate 52%; M age male = 16.10 yr, female = 15.91 yr). We tested for differences in global HRQoL (KIDSCREEN–10 Index) scores by time spent in a given activity. Nonparametric analyses were used as the data were not normally distributed in each of the categories. Ordinal logistic regression was then used to examine the strength of the relationship between time use and HRQoL.
RESULTS: We found some significant associations between HRQoL and individual activities, independent of gender, school year, school location, family context, social class, nationality, or diary day. For male participants, time socializing with family was associated with increased odds of high HRQoL at weekends. For female participants, spending time in physical activity was associated with increased odds of high HRQoL on weekdays and at weekends.
CONCLUSION: Our data reinforce the need for occupational therapy and other health promotion and disease prevention strategies to be tailored differently for boys and girls. The lifestyles and well-being of adolescents cannot be sufficiently understood by focusing on discrete health or risk behaviors in isolation. Further person-centered research on overall multidimensional activity patterns is required.
References
Bendixen, R. M., & Kreider, C. M. (2011). Centennial Vision—Review of occupational therapy research in the practice area of children and youth. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 65, 351–359. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2011.000976
Hunt, E., & McKay, E. A. (2015a). A scoping review of time use research in occupational therapy and occupational science. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 22, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.3109/11038128.2014.934918
Hunt, E., & McKay, E. A. (2015b). What can be learned from adolescent time diary research. Journal of Adolescent Health, 56, 259–266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2014.11.007
Patton, G. C., Sawyer, S. M., Santelli, J. S., Ross, D. A., Afifi, R., Allen, N. B., . . . Viner, R. M. (2016). Our future: A Lancet commission on adolescent health and wellbeing. Lancet, 387(10036), 2423–2478. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)00579-1
