What adolescents experience in organized activities: Profiles of individual and social experiences

The goal of this study was to identify profiles of individual (identity, initiative, emotion regulation, and teamwork and social skills) and social experiences (social integration in the activity peer group and support from the activity leader) in organized activities and examine activity-related and youth-related characteristics associated with profile membership. A total of 413 youths (57% girls; Mage = 14.44) involved in 33 different activities were surveyed. Three distinct profiles emerged from the data, characterized by low, average, and high scores on both individual and social experiences, respectively. Membership in these profiles was predicted by the type of activity, the intensity of participation, and the extent to which youths experienced “flow” while participating. Overall, this study revealed that most youths reported high frequencies of positive individual and social experiences in their organized activities and that few activity-related and youth-related characteristics predicted profile membership.