Health status differences in subjective well-being of male and female high school students preferring sedentary leisure activities

Introduction. Leisure may provide certain unique subjective well-being (SWB) benefits that cannot be obtained through other domains in life, as leisure is typically characterized by autonomy or greater freedom of choice than other life dimensions. The objective of the present study was to analyse the level of SWB in male and female high school students with different health status preferring sedentary leisure time activities and compare SWB dimensions (SWB-Ds) between healthy students and students with self-reported health disorders (S-RHDs). Material and Methods. The research sample comprised of 153 male students (healthy; n=90 and with S-RHDs; n=63) and 238 female students (healthy; n=126 and with S-RHDs; n=112) who preferred sedentary types of leisure time activities. A standardized The Bern Subjective Well-Being Questionnaire for Adolescents (BFW) was used as a primary research method. Non-parametric Mann Whitney U-test was used to assess differences between two independent groups of male and female high school students according to their self-reported health status (healthy vs. with S-RHDs). Results. Significantly higher level of negative SWB-Ds was found in the group of male students with S-RHDs compare healthy male students (U=1672, p=0.000, r=0.34). No significant differences were found in the comparison between healthy female students and female students with S-RHDs. Conclusions. Many researches indicate a very close positive connection between regular participation in sport leisure activities and SWB, but just few of them investigate correlations and comparisons among SWB, health status and sport leisure activities participation.