Family leisure and subjective well-being: Do patterns and timing matter?

Abstract

We examined the relationship between family leisure and subjective well-being by exploring the type and timing of family leisure activities. We used convenience sampling to recruit 711 adolescents, and conducted a hierarchical linear regression and one-way analysis of variance for data analysis. Results showed that participants who were more involved in a high number of either core or balance family leisure activities had higher subjective well-being. In addition, participants (vs. their counterparts involved in few core or balance family leisure activities) highly involved in both core and balance family leisure activities had higher subjective well-being. Further, participants (vs. all their counterparts) involved in the fewest family leisure activities all year round had lower subjective well-being. These results implied that participants' subjective well-being was correlated with patterns and timing of family leisure. Education practitioners and parents should be aware that subjective well-being can be improved by appropriate allocation of time spent on different types of family leisure activities.