Acculturative Stress and Leisure among Chinese International Graduate Students

ABSTRACT

This study explored the roles of leisure participation in helping Chinese international graduate students cope with acculturative stress. In particular, it examined (a) the expectations and preparations with respect to acculturative stress made by the students prior to their arrival to the United States, (b) the acculturative stressors experienced by the students during the postarrival transition phase, (c) the role of leisure participation in coping with acculturative stress, and (d) the limitations of leisure as a coping strategy and the negative impacts of leisure on acculturative stress. Two rounds of semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 first-year Chinese international graduate students attending a large midwestern university. The findings revealed that due to the unique cultural influence and the status of international students, the participants experienced distinctive acculturative stressors. Although leisure participation was an effective tool in combating acculturative stress, in some circumstances it a led to a plethora of negative outcomes.     

Examining Rival Models of Leisure Coping Mechanisms

The present study examined the role of leisure in coping with stress and promoting good health. Using police and emergency response service workers (n = 132), this study tested a number of theoretically grounded leisure coping models to discover mechanisms by which leisure coping influences the relationship between stressors and adaptational outcomes (i.e., immediate adaptational outcomes such as coping effectiveness and stress reduction, and physical and mental health). Ensel and Lin's (1991) life stress paradigm was adopted to conceptualize these rival models (eight in total), and structural equation modeling was used to compare goodness of fit among the models to identify the best model. The findings suggest that stressors and leisure coping appear to independently influence adaptational outcomes. Leisure coping facilitated positive immediate adaptational outcomes that subsequently had a positive impact on health, irrespective of the level of stress experienced. The potential contribution of leisure to coping with stress and health is highlighted. Results suggest that the development of enduring beliefs about the role of leisure as ways of coping (i.e., leisure coping beliefs) seems essential for the actual and effective use of leisure as a means to manage stress (i.e., leisure coping strategies). Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

The impact of leisure coping beliefs and strategies on adaptive outcomes

Despite the recent growth of leisure coping research, it is not entirely clear: what aspects of leisure best contribute to coping with stress, and how the mechanisms that link leisure to adaptive outcomes operate. Another limitation of this research has been a tendency to examine leisure coping independent of general coping - coping not directly associated with leisure (e.g., problem-focused coping). To help overcome these limitations, the purpose of this study was to test two models of leisure and coping: (a) an independent model and (b) a buffer model, when the effects of general coping were taken into account. The findings of the study using police and emergency response service workers suggest that the effects of leisure on adaptive outcomes differ depending on the type of leisure coping used. Situation-specific leisure coping strategies (i.e., actual coping behaviors and cognitions available through leisure) were significantly associated with effectiveness of coping, satisfactory coping outcomes, and stress reduction (i.e., immediate adaptive outcomes), whereas enduring leisure coping beliefs (i.e., personality dispositions and beliefs about the role of leisure as a means of managing stress) significantly predicted better physical health (as a long-term outcome), irrespective of the level of stress experienced. Both types of leisure coping had significant 'main effects' supporting the independent model. Also, evidence of the buffer model was found for the effects of leisure coping strategies on moderating the detrimental impact of stress on physical health. Implications of leisure coping research for health promotion and lifestyle intervention are discussed.     

Leisure and Active Lifestyles: Research Reflections

Leisure researchers have been studying active living for many years. The research, however, has focused more on individual factors than social and environmental determinants that enable physical activity and health. The focus of the introduction to this special issue on “leisure and active lifestyles” is to highlight leisure literature that can be directly tied to active living. These dimensions include outdoor recreation, community recreation areas and facilities, time usage, barriers and constraints, and social interdependence. We provide an overview of the significance of the papers in this special issue and offer some reflections regarding future research related to active living, physical activity, health, and leisure. We underline the value of the holistic approach evident in leisure research and call for broader methods and more collaborative transdisciplinary research.     

Research note: Functions of privacy in Australian wilderness environments

Evidence suggests that leisure activities can be used as a means for coping with stress, but how leisure is used as an effective way to regulate difficult tasks is still unclear. Self-Determination Theory was used as a theoretical framework to propose two distinct approaches to regulatory leisure coping: the Planned-Breather Leisure Coping Style and the Avoidant Leisure Coping Style. The two proposed dimensions were tested and supported using a new scale with a university student population. Findings obtained in these studies suggested that regulatory orientation in a particular context was distinctively associated with the two proposed leisure coping styles and to different affective consequences following the regulation of a difficult task.     

Recreation and Leisure Research from an Active Living Perspective: Taking a Second Look at Urban Trail Use Data

This paper examines recreation and leisure research within the context of active living, and highlights an apparent gap between the current involvement of recreation and leisure researchers and the potential they could offer to this important and expanding area of inquiry. To illustrate this potential, I looked at two previous studies that focused on the recreational use of urban trails and reanalyzed the data from an active living perspective. In Study 1, individual, social and environmental factors helped distinguish between low, moderate, and high activity level trail uses. In Study 2, use patterns helped distinguish between health-motivated trail users and individuals using trails for recreation and other purposes, but perceptual and demographic data were similar among groups. Findings from similar studies can help inform active living research, and recreation and leisure studies can provide leadership and contributions to a transdisciplinary understanding of active living.     

Stress,resilience and leisure coping among university students: applying the broaden-and-build theory

Evidence suggests that leisure coping is affiliated with resilience, and that both predict stress-coping and well-being. However, a theoretical explanation of how resilience is associated with the stress-reducing properties of leisure coping is lacking. Using the broaden-and-build theory, a model was developed proposing that resilient individuals proactively use leisure coping to cultivate positive emotions and in turn enhance well-being. Leisure coping and positive affect (PA) were suggested to mediate the relationship between resilience and well-being outcomes (stress and flourishing). The model was tested among 202 U.K undergraduates, a population reported to experience high stress. Structural equation modelling revealed that resilience had a significant positive effect on flourishing. Leisure coping beliefs demonstrated a positive relationship with resilience, PA and flourishing. PA mediated the relationship between resilience and flourishing and between resilience and stress. Leisure coping strategies did not meaningfully contribute to the model. Leisure beliefs may have emerged as more important than leisure strategies because leisure beliefs are relatively stable with more enduring effects on health and well-being, while leisure strategies are transient and situation-based. Future research should examine the relationships longitudinally to explore developmental change. Implications of the findings for undergraduates are discussed.     

Preferred Leisure Type,Value Orientations,and Psychological Well-Being Among East Asian Youth

ABSTRACT

This study investigated preferred leisure type and its associations with value orientations and psychological well-being (PWB) among adolescents in South Korea, China, and Japan (N = 6,157). Chi-square analyses were performed to examine differences in preferred leisure type (i.e., active vs. passive) across countries. Overall, adolescents preferred passive to active leisure. A series of logistic regressions showed that students who value religion (Japanese and Korean), community (Chinese), and same-sex friends (Chinese) were more likely to prefer active leisure. Furthermore, active leisure pursuit was associated with high PWB among adolescents in all three countries. Though some of the findings support previous studies suggesting cultural differences in leisure, values, and PWB, similar patterns were observed in the associations between variables among Korean, Chinese, and Japanese adolescents.     

Dyadic Exploration of the Relationship of Leisure Satisfaction,Leisure Time,and Gender to Relationship Satisfaction

The stress suppressing model proposes that sufficient resources reduce stress. The stress exposure model suggests that certain factors expose individuals to more stress. The current study tested these two models by assessing the within-person lagging effect of leisure time on perceived severity of daily stressors. Analyzing eight-day diary data (N=2,022), we found that having more leisure time than usual on a day reduced perceived severity of daily stressors the next day and that the decrease in severity became larger with further increase in leisure time. Additionally, the effect is much stronger among busy individuals who usually had little leisure time. The findings demonstrated an accelerated suppressing effect that differed between-person, and the lagging effect affords stronger implication for causality than correlational analysis.     

Coping with Chronic Stress: Leisure and Women Who Are Homeless

The present study explored if women who are homeless face chronic stress and how the women cope with living in a shelter, which could be chronic stress or part of ongoing chronic stress. The study demonstrated that women who are homeless experienced chronic stress. When the women discussed how they coped with stress, various strategies were identified with a primary strategy of being with others. The women also noted that they engaged in diversionary leisure activities to help them relax. Although diversionary activities helped the women relax, they were not identified when the women discussed coping. It could be that diversionary activities have become so much a part of the women's lifestyles that these activities unconsciously assist with coping. Thus, diversionary leisure activities are critical to coping with chronic stress, but not recognized as coping strategies. The present study suggests that researchers working in the area of stress and coping must be cognizant of the differences between event stress, traumatic stress, and chronic stress, and the various conscious and unconscious ways that people cope with chronic stress.     

Job stress and well-being of female employees in hospitality: The role of regulatory leisure coping styles

The job stress and coping behavior of female employees has become a key issue in the hospitality industry. This study investigates the moderating role of regulatory leisure coping styles on the effect of job stress on female employees’ well-being. Specifically, this study extends Patry et al.’s (2007) findings to further confirm the direct and moderating role of regulatory leisure coping styles in the relationship between job stress and well-being. Data were collected from the female employees of 22 tourist hotels in Taiwan. The results showed that the Planned-Breather Leisure Coping Style (PBLCS) was positively and significantly associated with well-being, whereas the Avoidant Leisure Coping Style (ALCS) had a negative and significant effect on it. In addition, the results also revealed that the PBLCS plays a buffering role, but that the ALCS plays an amplifying role. Based on these findings, the implications and research suggestions are then discussed.     

Creating Distance from Body Issues: Exploring New Materialist Feminist Possibilities for Renegotiating Gendered Embodiment

Abstract

The body’s active role in the production of gendered embodiments is a key focus for feminist cultural studies and leisure studies. The article draws on new materialist feminist scholarship to explore how gender relations are produced and negotiated in physical culture through one case study example taken from a wider study of young people’s experiences of the body and self-image over time. The article explores how gendered embodiment is assembled through the socio-material circumstances of everyday life. For one particiapnt, 'Ann', “creating distance” from appearance concerns was an embodied process which involved new practices and encounters (e.g., walking for leisure, reading feminist literature) and relationships and engagements with others (e.g., a partner, friends, family). The potential for feminism to open possibilities to imagine the body otherwise is also discussed in relation to recent efforts to foster social justice imperatives in leisure sciences and feminist physical cultural studies.     

Dimensions of self-selected leisure activities,trait coping and their relationships with sleep quality and depressive symptoms

Although leisure is presumed to be beneficial, certain profiles of leisure may be especially good. This paper tests whether dimensions of self-selected leisure activities (SSLAs) differentially relate to depressive symptoms and poor sleep quality, including (a) positivity (SSLA-PO), (b) difficulty (SSLA-DF), (c) distraction (SSLA-DI) and (d) thinking about negative events (SSLA-TN). Furthermore, it tests whether those low in perseverative cognitions (PCs) and high in ‘John Henryism’ active coping are equally likely to benefit from leisure. Participants (n = 362, 76% female) at a large university in Wisconsin rated two SSLAs on the dimensions above and completed measures of depression, sleep quality, PCs and active coping. Regression analyses showed that SSLA-TN predicted greater depression and poor sleep quality. For the moderators, more SSLA-DI and SSLA-TN each predicted greater depression for those more prone to PCs, and more SSLA-DI predicted more depression and worse sleep quality at lower active coping levels. Results suggest that not all leisure is equally beneficial, and have implications for the design of leisure-based interventions.     

Factors Influencing the Physically Active Leisure of Children and Youth: A Qualitative Study

A phenomenological framework guided data collection and analysis of the prevalent influences on attitudes and behaviors of elementary, junior, and secondary school students towards their physically active leisure. Twenty-two students participated in individual in-depth interviews. Parental influence and outdoor play effected choice and level of physically active leisure for elementary students. Opportunities for organized and non-structured physically active leisure and friends were significant for junior students. Academic responsibilities and organized physically active leisure were influential for secondary students. Common threads were parental influence and the belief that the students were too old to start new activities. These findings highlight the importance of providing opportunities in safe environments for children and youth to participate in a variety of structured and non-structured forms of physically active leisure.     

Leisure,Stress, and Coping: An Evolving Area of Inquiry

Stress and coping are prevalent and ubiquitous in our everyday lives. The degree and manner in which we experience stress, and ways in which we cope with stress, strongly influence our daily choices and their outcomes, including those related to leisure. Research on leisure, stress, and coping is important within a broad spectrum of leisure research since it can be potentially integrated with leisure research on constraints and negotiations, lifespan development, diversity, and lifestyle. Such integration works to bridge the gap in the leisure research community that is often characterized as isolated entities. One important tangible benefit of such integration is that stress and coping have the potential to be a common language for many researchers with diverse interests, and it thus leads to opportunities for enhanced communication and understanding, as well as for possible collaborations. We hope that this special issue, presenting a diverse collection of papers focused on leisure, stress, and coping, may instill such ambitious, but important, desire. The role of this issue is threefold: (1) to better identify relationships among leisure, stress, and coping, (2) to introduce new theoretical and methodological approaches for such research, and (3) to encourage increased attention to and collaborations related to leisure, stress, and coping research.     

Modeling Change in Older Adults' Leisure Activities

Changes in three domains of leisure (i.e., informal, formal, and physical) were examined using data from individuals ages 50 and over from all three waves of the Americans' Changing Lives study (N = 1,911), and different patterns of change were found. Individual growth curve modeling suggested that while no change occurred over time on average within domains, significant individual differences were found in these patterns across all domains. Limitations in physical functioning and depressive symptoms predicted lower participation across domains, but other predictors including age, race, and gender made a difference. Older age only predicted decreases in the physical domain.     

Enjoyment in zoos

Abstract

The range of paid work carried out within the home suggests that a growing number of home‐working individuals will find themselves in distinctive positions in relation to the flows and interconnections of the space–time compression. This has potentially significant consequences for their experience of leisure. This article discusses how space and place within the home are contested issues that manifest in different ways across time. Consideration is made on the fluid nature of the spatial boundaries within the home environment and the impact this has upon the notion of the home as a site of, and for, leisure. The article explores how the home represents a physical setting and a matrix of social relationships, and discusses how this matrix proves especially complex for individuals engaged in home‐based work, particularly when aligned with notions of leisure choices and constraints.     

Factors Related to Physically Active Leisure among College Students

The purpose of this study was to provide additional information about the complex relation of social cognitive constructs, gender, and active leisure among university students. Structural equation modeling techniques were used to test the hypothesized relations in a sample of 874 undergraduate students. Peer and family support had a moderate direct effect on self-efficacy while self-efficacy had a large direct effect on active leisure. A moderation effect was demonstrated. Peer support was more influential on male respondents' beliefs that they could be active and males reported higher active leisure participation when compared to females. The results of this study provide valuable insight into the mechanisms of influence on active leisure among this university population.     

Well-being and leisure-time physical activity psychosocial factors predict physical activity among university students

ABSTRACT

Drawing from literature supporting top-down (i.e., well-being impacting leisure) and bottom-up (i.e., leisure impacting well-being) models explaining the bi-directional relationship between leisure and well-being, this study examines the complex relationship of well-being, leisure constraints, and leisure negotiation factors in predicting leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) rates among university students. Six hundred sixty-one university students completed an online questionnaire assessing psychological well-being (PWB), LTPA constraints, LTPA negotiation strategies, and LTPA rates. A multiple regression analysis indicated bottom-up and top-down variables jointly predict LTPA. In regards to bottom-up psychological LTPA variables, LTPA was positively predicted by LTPA planning and prioritisation skills and negatively predicted by constraints to recreation facility spaces, lack of time, and utilising financial strategies. In regards to top-down well-being, influences on LTPA, LTPA rates were negatively predicted by personal growth and positively predicted by autonomy. We highlight how the study findings might inform intentional university health promotion policies and programming, leading to a culture of student well-being through LTPA.