Relationship Between Young People’s Leisure Time Activities and Risky Behaviors/Povezanost provođenja slobodnoga vremena i rizičnih ponašanja mladih

AbstractThis paper aimed to investigate the relationship between young people’s leisure time and risky behaviors. This was examined through a survey questionnaire constructed for the purposes of this research, which contained two scales: the Leisure Time Scale and the Risk Behavior Scale. A total of 204 secondary school students from the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Italy participated in the survey on a voluntary basis. The research methodology included a descriptive analysis with percentages, frequencies, means, and standard deviations. Hypotheses were tested by inferential statistics including factor analysis, t-test, ANOVA test, and correlations. The results of the empirical part of the research indicate that young people spend their free time more often consuming entertaining and media content, and less in the family and educational environment. Young people with poorer school performance more often spend their free time in entertainment and media contexts, while Croats, compared to Italians, spend their free time more often in family and educational environments. Results were also obtained on the manifestation of severe and milder risky behaviors. No differences were identified with regard to student gender, legal guardian, and origin, but there were differences with regard to their age and school performance. Older respondents and those with lower school performance are more prone to manifest milder forms of risky behaviors compared to others. The correlation between young people’s leisure time and risky behaviors was also established. Key words: leisure; family and educational environments; high school students in the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Italy; severe and milder risky behaviors; entertainment and media---SažetakCilj ovoga rada bio je istražiti povezanost provođenja slobodnoga vremena i rizičnih ponašanja mladih. Navedeno je ispitivano anketnim upitnikom koji je konstruiran za potrebe ovoga istraživanja, a sadržavao je dvije skale: Skalu provođenja slobodnog vremena i Skalu rizičnih ponašanja. Istraživanju je dobrovoljno pristupilo 204 učenika srednjih škola Republike Hrvatske i Republike Italije. Korištena metodologija obuhvaćala je deskriptivnu analizu koja je uključivala postotke, frekvencije, srednje vrijednosti i standardne devijacije. Hipoteze su testirane inferencijalnom statistikom koja uključuje faktorsku analizu, t-test, ANOVA test i korelacije. Rezultati empirijskoga dijela istraživanja ukazuju kako mladi češće provode slobodno vrijeme kroz zabavu i medije, a manje u obiteljskom i obrazovnom okružju. Mladi s lošijim školskim uspjehom slobodno vrijeme učestalije provode u zabavi i koristeći medije, dok Hrvati u odnosu na Talijane slobodno vrijeme češće provode u obiteljskom i obrazovnom okružju. Također su se dobili rezultati o manifestaciji težih i blažih oblika rizičnih ponašanja. Nisu se utvrdile razlike s obzirom na spol, skrbnika i porijeklo, ali jesu s obzirom na dob i školski uspjeh. Stariji ispitanici i oni s nižim školskim uspjehom skloniji su manifestaciji blažih oblika rizičnih ponašanja u odnosu na druge. Utvrdila se i međusobna povezanost u provođenju slobodnoga vremena i rizičnih ponašanja mladih. Ključne riječi: dokolica; obiteljsko i obrazovno okružje; srednjoškolci Republike Hrvatske i Republike Italije; teži i lakši oblici rizičnih ponašanja; zabava i mediji.