Different Activities, Different Associations: Leisure Participation, Economic Worry, and Adolescent Well-Being in Sweden

Although leisure activities are considered important for adolescent well-being, leisure opportunities are not evenly distributed. Using cross-sectional survey data from 2610 Swedish adolescents aged 14–15, this study examined whether weekly participation in sports/gym, nature-based activities, creative arts, reading for pleasure, and youth centres was associated with life satisfaction and psychosomatic health, and whether associations varied by gender, migration background, and economic worry. Sports/gym participation showed the most consistent positive associations with both outcomes, whereas nature-based activities were associated with life satisfaction only. Non-participation was associated with lower life satisfaction. Creative arts showed mixed patterns, particularly for psychosomatic health. Youth centre participation was not associated with either outcome overall but was associated with higher life satisfaction among adolescents reporting economic worry. Adolescent leisure emerged as a socially patterned context: creative arts participation was more common among girls than boys by approximately 20 percentage points, while sports or gym participation was lower among adolescents reporting economic worry by approximately 10 percentage points. Associations between leisure activities and well-being differed by activity type and social group, particularly in relation to economic worry.