Examining the impact of a leisure time intervention on participation in organized out-of-school activities among adolescents: a quasi-experimental study in Franklin County, KY, USA

Abstract

Abstract Guided by the Icelandic Prevention Model, a community-led coalition in Franklin County, KY, aimed to subsidize costs for participation in supervised organized leisure time programs among its youth via adaptation of the Reykjavik City Leisure Card program, locally known as the ‘YES Card’ voucher program. This study examined whether the proportion of students participating in supervised out-of-school activities and sports was higher in the YES Card intervention group compared to a similar group of youth who did not receive the voucher across two time points. Two waves of survey data were collected in one intervention middle school and two geographically and demographically similar comparison schools in 2020 (n for intervention = 112, n for comparison = 723) and 2021 (n for intervention = 134, n for comparison = 873). The expected age of students ranged between 12 and 15 years. Analyses were conducted using logistic regression. The YES Card receivers were two-and-a-half times more likely to participate in nonsport organized recreational activities [odds ratio, OR, 2.43 (95% confidence interval, CI, 1.07–5.52)] and almost twice as likely to participate in sports [OR: 1.91 (95%CI: 1.08–3.38)] over the 1-year study period, compared to non-YES Card youth. We conclude that Franklin County in KY in the USA has successfully adapted the Reykjavik City Leisure time voucher program.