HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND FAMILY STUDIES
DISSERTATION DEFENSE FOR
ANDREA FINLAY
TITLE: COMBINATIONS OF CIVIC ENGAGEMENT, FREE TIME, AND ALCOHOL
USE DISCRETIONARY ACTIVITIES IN U.S. AND BRITISH ADOLESCENT
SAMPLES: LINKS WITH ADULT CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
Dissertation Committee:
Jennifer Maggs
Professor
Co-Chair of Committee
Constance Flanagan
Professor
Co-Chair of Committee
Edward A. Smith
Associate Director and
Director of Evaluation Research
Prevention Research Center
Nilam Ram
Assistant Professor
Linda Caldwell
Professor
Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management
DATE:
TIME:
PLACE:
February 24, 2011
3 - 5 p.m.
S102 Henderson
Areas of Specialization: Individual Development and Prevention/Intervention
ABSTRACT
Events, choices, and experiences that occur during adolescence may have lasting effects on the
developing person (Lerner, 1982). Engagement in discretionary activities, defined here as
activities that are not necessarily school- or work-related, is important not only for the immediate
health and well-being of youth, but also for long-term positive health. For example, experiences
during adolescence shape civic commitments thereafter and, beyond individual outcomes, a
healthy democracy rests on the participation of its citizens. In addition, the experiences and
opportunities adolescents have may be influenced by the historical time in which they live,
which may differentially shape their lives. The current dissertation sought to identify
combinations of civic engagement, free time, and alcohol use discretionary activities across
twelve cohorts of adolescents in the U.S. and in one birth cohort of adolescents in Britain, to
compare U.S. and British adolescents, and to investigate the longitudinal implications that
combinations of discretionary activities among British adolescents have for civic engagement in
adulthood. Four research aims were explored in two studies. Study 1 used nationally
representative data of U.S. adolescents who participated in the annual Monitoring the Future
surveys (Johnston, O’Malley, Bachman, & Schulenberg, 2009) to: (1) Describe U.S. adolescents’
combinations of civic engagement, free time, and alcohol use discretionary activities; and (2)
Examine whether and how U.S. adolescents’ combinations of discretionary activities differed
across four decades. Study 2 used nationally representative data of British adolescents
participating in the longitudinal British Cohort Study (Butler, Golding, & Howlett, 1985) to: (3)
Describe British adolescents’ combinations of civic engagement, free time, and alcohol use
discretionary activities and examine whether these combinations replicated those found in the
U.S. samples; and (4) Investigate whether British adolescents’ combinations of discretionary
activities predicted differences in civic engagement in adulthood at ages 26, 30, and 34. In both
studies, three types of adolescent discretionary activities were examined: civic engagement,
which captured activities that expressed a commitment to society and the well-being of others;
free time, which included activities that were part of adolescents’ daily lives but that did not
contain an inherent commitment to society; and alcohol use, which represented experimentation
with potential risks to health. Person-centered analyses were utilized to describe different
combinations of discretionary activities. By exploring the heterogeneity of youth experiences and
whether these combinations of discretionary activities predicted civic engagement in adulthood,
we may gain insight into the constellation of discretionary activities that may be important to
adolescent development, particularly for subgroups of youth who vary from the general trend.
To pursue the first and second research aims, cross-sectional nationally representative survey
responses from 12th grade adolescents participating in the annual U.S. Monitoring the Future
study (Johnston et al., 2009) were used to identify and explore combinations of discretionary
activities. Data were obtained near the midpoints of four historical decades from the 1970s to
2000s, specifically 1976-1978, 1986-1988, 1996-1998, and 2006-2008. First, adolescent
combinations of civic engagement, free time, and alcohol use discretionary activities were
described using latent class analysis, a person-centered approach that identifies differences in
subgroups of people within a population based on individual characteristics. Second, variations
in combinations of discretionary activities across the four decades were tested. After establishing
the optimal solution within each decade, the four decades were combined and a measurement
invariance test was conducted to determine if the optimal solution across decades reflected the
same number and characteristics of classes. Among girls, four latent classes were found in each
decade and across decades: low-involved, drinking-involved, civically-involved, and multiinvolved. Among boys, there were differences across decades. The 1970s decade reflected three
combinations of activities: drinking-involved, civically-involved, and multi-involved. The later
three decades showed these three classes plus a fourth, low-involved.
To address the third and fourth research aims, longitudinal data from an ongoing nationally
representative sample of British individuals (British Cohort Study) who have been followed from
birth in 1970 through age 38 was utilized. For the third aim, latent class analysis was used to
identify British adolescents’ combinations of discretionary activities and to examine whether
these combinations replicated those established in the U.S. adolescent samples. For the fourth
aim, logistic regression was utilized to predict civic engagement in adulthood at ages 26, 30 and
34 from the British adolescents’ latent classes. Results identified in the Britain sample did not
replicate those established in the U.S. samples; there were fewer latent classes found for both
girls and boys in Britain and some of the characteristics of the classes differed, although the
overall impression was the same. Among British girls and boys, there were three classes; lowinvolved, drinking-involved, and multi-involved. Logistic regression results indicated that
compared to low-involved adolescents, drinking-involved girls and boys were less likely to
engage in high levels of civic activities as adults, including political interest, voting, and social
trust. In contrast, multi-involved girls and boys were more likely to engage in high levels of civic
activities – including political interest, voting, organizational and union membership, and civic
action – compared to their low-involved counterparts.
The discussion for Study 1 considers the prevention implications of these results. Youth in the
drinking-involved class may be at risk for alcohol-related problems because their time may be
taken up with little else, whereas the multi-involved adolescents may attenuate the health risks of
heavy drinking through their participation in other activities. Volunteering is common across the
samples, likely due to school requirements and normative pressures, but other civic activities are
relatively rare among all youth suggesting that increasing the number of required civic activities
may boost engagement in this area. The discussion for Study 2 considers alternative explanations
for the observed differences in discretionary activity combinations between the U.S. and Britain,
including differences in sampling, measurement, opportunities for activity participation, age
differences, and cultural context. Longitudinal results are discussed in light of potential
mechanisms that may explain adult differences between the groups. For both studies, future
research examining differences among the classes on adult outcomes, such as health, work, and
identity development, are needed.