Leisure activity and coping with stress: adolescents as case study

The purpose of this study is to explore the correlation between adolescent participation in leisure activity, its benefits, and coping with stress. Questionnaire surveys and structural equation model (SEM) were used for testing, and the analytical results showed that the model has good fit. The main findings of this study are: (1) youth participation in leisure activity would positively influence benefits of leisure activity; (2) participation in leisure activity has a significant positive correlation to adolescent coping with stress; (3) benefits of leisure activity has a significant positive influence on coping with stress. Research results showed that among participation in leisure activity, “kinetic activity” is the most important element for adolescent choice; among benefits of leisure activity, “enrich the quality of life” and “enhance self-worth” are most emphasized by adolescents. In terms of coping with stress, adolescents generally use “avoidance coping.” According to the research results, it is suggested that under the current social and cultural framework, promotion of adolescent participation in leisure activity can help them increase avoidance coping when faced with stress.