Not everything helps the same for everyone: relevance of extracurricular activities for academic achievement

The study investigates how participation in organized extracurricular activities (EA) relates to academic achievement, and whether these associations differ by sex, developmental stage (early vs. middle/late adolescence), and parental education level. EAs are supervised, structured, voluntary activities outside the school curriculum that provide social, identity, and skill-development contexts. Prior work links EAs—across types such as sports, arts, service clubs, and faith-based groups—to various youth developmental outcomes, with potential differential effects by activity type. Key engagement dimensions include breadth (number of activities) and duration (consistency over time). The literature suggests early adolescents often explore a wider breadth of activities, while older adolescents specialize in fewer activities with greater intensity. Socioeconomic context and parental education also shape EA participation patterns. This study aims to clarify, within a Spanish context, how EA type, breadth, duration, and reading for pleasure associate with academic achievement when accounting for sex, age, and parental education.

Prior research distinguishes EA types (sports vs. arts) and finds divergent developmental yields: arts participation is often associated with improved adjustment, self-knowledge, and discipline, whereas sports can reduce risk behaviors and enhance social/academic abilities, though collective sports may yield smaller academic or social benefits than other EAs. Engagement dimensions matter: breadth offers diverse learning and social networks; duration (consistent participation) may amplify benefits over time. Participation patterns differ by sex (boys more in sports; girls more in arts/clubs) and stage (early adolescents engage broadly, older adolescents specialize). Parental education and broader socioeconomic factors predict participation and duration, with higher parental education associated with greater involvement. EAs are linked to higher academic achievement, persistence in school, better attendance, reduced dropout, and improved school climate. Evidence on whether breadth or duration is more predictive is mixed; some studies find breadth more predictive overall, others show developmental nuance (breadth more relevant in early adolescence; duration in later adolescence). Reading for pleasure, while not an organized EA, is consistently associated with higher academic achievement and aspirations, particularly in early adolescence.

Design and setting: Cross-sectional survey conducted in 10 randomly selected secondary schools in Zaragoza province, Spain. Participants: 1,148 students from grades 7, 9, and 11 (approx. ages 12, 14, 16). Sex distribution: 549 males (47.8%), 599 females (52.2%). Age groups (dichotomized at median): 12–14 and 15–18 years. Parental education categorized as low (primary/basic), middle (high school), and high (university), assigned by the highest level attained by either parent. Instruments: Extracurricular Activities questionnaire (Hermoso et al., 2010) capturing participation in organized activities after school, including type (individual sports, collective sports, arts: dance, theater, music, plastic arts), number of courses (for duration), and perceptions. Reading books for pleasure assessed directly. Sociodemographics (sex, age, parental education) collected. Academic achievement measured as self-reported final grade from the previous course on a 1–8 scale; for descriptive purposes categorized as deficient, sufficient, or superior. Procedure: Ethical procedures followed per BERA (2011) guidelines; school leadership informed; parental notification and consent process conducted; anonymity assured; data collected during class time without compensation. Data analysis: Age dichotomized into 12–14 vs. 15–18. Breadth defined as total number of different EAs in which a youth engages (per Busseri & Rose-Krasnor, 2009). Duration measured by number of courses/years of participation. Multilevel linear model with academic achievement (1–8 scale) as the dependent variable; fixed effects included sex, parental education level (3 levels), participation in individual sports (yes/no), collective sports (yes/no), arts (yes/no), reading books (yes/no), breadth (levels), and duration (levels). School was included as a random effect. Estimation used restricted maximum likelihood with Satterthwaite degrees of freedom; residual normality assessed via skewness and kurtosis. Significance set at p<0.05. Post hoc tests used Fisher-protected t-tests for factors with >2 levels, otherwise F-tests. Due to potential confounding by age, models were estimated separately for each age group.

Sample characteristics: Of boys vs. girls respectively, 64.5% vs. 63.3% were 12–14; parental education high: 39.6% vs. 40.7%. Participation: individual sports yes: 29.0% boys, 33.2% girls; collective sports yes: 65.8% boys, 40.7% girls; arts yes: 27.0% boys, 41.9% girls; reading books yes: 11.0% boys, 13.5% girls. Academic achievement superior: 34.9% boys, 46.7% girls. Multilevel ANOVA results (Table 2) showed age-differentiated associations: - 12–14 years: Significant predictors of higher academic achievement were sex (F=6.06, p=0.014; girls higher), parental education level (F=3.96, p=0.020; higher parental education associated with higher achievement), reading books (F=4.57, p=0.033; readers higher), and duration of EA (F=11.42, p<0.001; longer duration associated with higher achievement). Individual sports (F=0.21, p=0.647), collective sports (F=0.19, p=0.666), arts (F=0.03, p=0.866), and breadth (F=0.40, p=0.673) were not significant. - 15–18 years: Significant predictors were sex (F=13.92, p=0.025; girls higher), parental education level (F=3.92, p=0.021; higher parental education associated with higher achievement), reading books (F=4.26, p=0.042; readers higher), and collective sports (F=9.18, p=0.003; participation associated with lower achievement relative to non-participation). Individual sports (F=3.65, p=0.057), arts (F=2.31, p=0.129), breadth (F=0.65, p=0.420), and duration (F=1.08, p=0.342) were not significant. Overall patterns: - Girls, particularly in early adolescence, had higher academic achievement than boys. - Higher parental education predicted higher academic achievement in both age groups. - Reading books was positively associated with academic achievement in both age groups, with clearer emphasis in early adolescence. - Duration of EA predicted higher achievement only in early adolescence; breadth did not show a significant association in either age group in the model. - Participation in collective sports was negatively associated with academic achievement in middle-to-late adolescence.

Findings support that the relationship between extracurricular engagement and academic achievement is contingent on developmental stage, sex, parental education, and activity type. In early adolescence, girls outperform boys, higher parental education is beneficial, reading for pleasure relates positively to achievement, and longer duration of EA participation is advantageous—consistent with the notion that early adolescents benefit from sustained, structured involvement as they explore interests. In middle-to-late adolescence, the negative association of collective sports with achievement suggests that certain time demands or contextual features of team sports may compete with academic responsibilities. Reading continues to confer benefits, and parental education remains an important resource across stages. The results partly align with the evolutionary specialization hypothesis: as adolescents age, they refine interests and potentially concentrate their efforts; however, in this dataset breadth did not emerge as a significant predictor in the models, while duration’s benefits were confined to early adolescence. These patterns underscore the importance of aligning extracurricular offerings and guidance with developmental needs and integrating curricular and non-curricular elements to maximize academic benefits.

This study contributes evidence from a Spanish adolescent sample showing that the academic benefits of extracurricular participation vary by developmental stage, sex, parental education, and activity type. Key contributions include: (a) positive associations of reading for pleasure and higher parental education with academic achievement across ages; (b) a positive association of EA duration with achievement in early adolescence; and (c) a negative association of collective sports with achievement in middle-to-late adolescence. These findings support developmental perspectives on EA engagement and suggest schools should tailor extracurricular advising and promote integration between academic and extracurricular contexts. Future research should employ longitudinal, multi-method designs, incorporate measures of intensity and quality of participation, and test interaction models (e.g., sex by activity type) to unpack causal pathways and heterogeneity of effects.

Potential selection bias may favor adolescents who enter high school with higher self-acceptance and skills, making them more likely to participate in organized activities and to achieve academically. Academic achievement was self-reported (GPA), which introduces reporting bias. The cross-sectional design prevents causal inference. Intensity of participation was not measured; therefore, dosage in terms of proportion of time could not be assessed. Models did not include interaction terms due to concerns about statistical robustness; separate analyses by age group partially addressed this but may miss interactions (e.g., sex by activity). The design did not use multi-method approaches, limiting insight into motivations for participation/non-participation. The sample excluded students on non-ordinary academic tracks (e.g., curricular diversification), limiting generalizability.