Extracurricular Time Use and Adolescent Creativity: Differential Mechanisms Across Gender and Cohort Groups

Creativity has drawn increased attention from educators in recent years, yet the impact of diverse uses of extracurricular time on adolescent creativity, along with the heterogeneity of such influence, has not been thoroughly explored. This study examines the impact of extracurricular time use on adolescent creativity, using data from the OECD 2019 Survey on Social and Emotional Skills (SSES). Results reveal that spending time on homework, online games, online chatting, and entertainment negatively impact creativity, while time spent on exercise, meeting friends, and social activities positively correlate with it. Furthermore, there are significant differences across gender groups and cohort groups. For example, a negative correlation is found between the time girls spent on homework and their creativity levels, while boys exhibit a positive correlation between their creativity and time spent socializing. In terms of mechanisms, academic anxiety mediates the relationship between extracurricular time use and adolescent creativity. Academic anxiety has a more pronounced negative effect on girls’ creativity, while interactions with friends could significantly mitigate this effect. Moreover, the mediating effect of academic anxiety exhibit significant path differences among different cohorts. These findings provide insights for how to use extracurricular activities to improve creativity among different groups of adolescents.