Boredom has been conceptualized as a state of under- stimulation, under-arousal, lack of momentum, or a lack of psychological involvement associated with dissatis-faction in the task situation (Brisset and Snow, 1993; Larson and Richards, 1991). Iso-Ahola and Weissinger (1990) defined leisure boredom as: ‘a negative mood or state of mind that reflects a mismatch between optimal experiences that are perceptually available to an individual’’ (p.4). Feelings of leisure boredom can be created by meaningless leisure or multiple constraints. In other words, lack of leisure skills combined with restricted leisure opportunities is likely to cause feelings of boredom in leisure. And this may result in delinquency and drug use during free time (Iso-Ahola and Weissinger, 1987). Perceptions of leisure as boredom are associated with negative effects, and can be manifested as beliefs that the available leisure experiences are not sufficiently frequent, involving, exciting, varied or novel (Iso-Ahola and Weissinger, 1990). Leisure boredom is a likely consequence of conflicting perceptions of having too much time available with too little to do (Hill and Perkins, 1985) or having an abundance of time is central to boredom (Philips, 1993). Recently, Drucker mentioned that individuals living a multidimensional life have several advantages, including a more fulfilling life, developing and strengthening the sense of purpose and meaning to life, and preventing boredom (Bruce, 2010).

Leisure, leisure activities, leisure boredom and adolescents

Free time and leisure are related yet quite distinct concepts that are often used interchangeably. Free time occupies a broader domain than leisure and refers to the time that is free of obligatory activities. It is the time when adolescents are not  engaged in school-work, homework, work or chores. Relative to working adults, adolescents have more free time available for leisure, although this may vary depending on the social-cultural context (Wegner et al., 2011). Leisure can be regarded as being ‘nested’ within the domain of free time, as leisure activities usually occur during free time. Leisure has been defined as the purposeful and intentional use of free time to engage in self-selected activities that are meaningful and intrinsically motivating to the individual in that they are enjoyable, fun, refreshing and pleasurable (Wegner et al., 2008). Leisure is an occupation that enables adolescents to experience freedom, intrinsic motivation and positive affect (Kleiber et al., 1993).

Researchers have indicated that participating in leisure activities has significant associations with various physical and psychological conditions (Kim and Choi, 2006; Kim, 2007; Park, 2007). It is indicated that the more time adolescents spend in engaging in leisure activities, the more they feel comfortable and satisfied (Kim, 2009). Many researchers have further suggested that leisure activities are an important factor in coping with stress (Iso-Ahola and Park, 1996; Iwasaki, 2001; Iwasaki and Mannell, 2000; Lee and Kim, 2005). Lee and Yi (2006) indicated that a physical leisure activity, in particular, has a relatively strong positive effect on stress management behaviors.

As the authors reported, leisure boredom frequently occurs among youths. Adolescence is a time of transformation in many areas of an individual’s life and also a time for experimentation with rules, roles, and relationships. Adolescents purposely seek out risks and such behaviors that permit them to; (1) deal with anxiety, frustration and failure, (2) be admitted into peer groups and identify with a youth subculture; (3) confirm personal identity; (4) express opposition to adult authority and conventional society; (4) take control of their lives; and (6) affirm maturity and mark a development transition into youth adulthood (Jessor and Jessor, 1977). The first stage is early adolescence,  which  covers  the  period  of 11-14 years. The second is middle adolescence, from 15-18 years, and the third is late adolescence, from 18-21 years. In the midst of these rapid physical, emotional, and social changes, youths begin to question adult standards and the need for parental guidance (Okhakhume, 2014). Those adolescents who experienced more positive experiences in structured activities, such as sports and hobbies, were less bored than when watching television or engaging in other unstructured activities. More recent research has found that adolescents reported high levels of boredom not only in school, but also out of school, and importantly in leisure situations (Caldwell et al., 1992).

Risky behaviors, leisure boredom, and high school students

Adolescence is a critical period for the development of healthy behavior and lifestyles (Barnes and Farrell, 2006). Although there are many behaviors that might be considered questionable, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has identified six health risk behaviors as being particularly salient for the develop-ment of optimal health. These six anti-social behaviors include: (a) behavior that contributes to unintentional injuries and violence; (b) tobacco use; (c) alcohol and other drug use; (d) sexual behavior that contributes to unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases; (e) unhealthy dietary behavior; and (f) physical inactivity (CDC, 2008). These behaviors are often established in early childhood and may continue and intensify through the adolescent period. Studies showed that some social problems and various forms of delinquency such as media violence, internet addiction, and alcohol or drug abuse result from boredom during free time (Newberry and Duncan, 2001; Fedorov, 2005). For instance, adole-scents who smoke are more bored and less challenged than non-smokers (Orcutt, 1984). Besides, adolescent smokers cite relaxation and relief from boredom as reasons for smoking (Mattick and Baillie, 1992), and also adolescents’ participation in crime may be correlated with leisure boredom (Mukherjee and Dragger, 1990).

Since most studies on adolescent leisure have been conducted in the United States, those findings may not be directly applicable to Turkey. While some of the studies reviewed here sampled students, many involved university students and adult populations whose leisure experiences may not be comparable to those of adolescent populations. The narrow range of leisure activities examined by many studies may limit the comparability of their findings. Also, many studies have focused on leisure activities rather than on the individuals who participate in them and leisure attitudes and satisfaction, etc.

The present study aims to ameliorate these shortcomings by incorporating the widest range of adolescents’ leisure pursuits possible. Moreover, it adds to the research knowledge base by indicating anti-social behavior, leisure choices, and some demographic features to examine leisure boredom.

This study examines the boredom of high school students during leisure and investigates the relationship between leisure boredom and the presence/absence of anti-social behavior and the frequency at which high school students participate in recreational activities. Four research questions emerged from the research literature as areas of investigation for this study:

1. Is there a gender difference concerning leisure boredom?

2.  Is there a gender difference relating to anti-social behavior or not?

3. Is there an income difference concerning leisure boredom?

4. What are the relative contributions of leisure boredom to recreational activities (physical, social, cultural-artistic and touristic activities) participation frequency (never, sometimes, and often)?

Sample

According to Ordu Provincial Directorate for National Education’s Statistics, the study population includes a total of 3928 students (OPDNE, 2014). This study utilized survey research methods and consisted of a convenience sample of 497 students attending state high schools in Ordu City- Altinordu (city center) township,Turkey. Their ages range from 15 to 18 years (Table 1). The sample size was calculated with n= Nt²pq/ (d² (N-1) + t²pq) formula (Bas, 2008) and 95% of confidential interval, d: 0.05; t: 1.96. This is based on the assumption that in all conditions the survey hypothesis will occur within the equal probability; both p and q values are taken as 0.5 for N=3928. The final result is n=350. The self-administered questionnaire required approximately 15 min to complete.

Measurement

The survey instrument consisted of two sections. The first section consisted of demographic questions and leisure questions (with whom they participate in leisure activities, where they participate in leisure activities, which recreational activities they choose and leisure participation frequencies). One more question was added to indicate whether they have anti-social behavior or not. The second section consisted of the Leisure Boredom Scale, and it was used to assess perceptions of boredom in leisure (LBS: Iso-Ahola and Weissinger, 1990). It is a 16 item instrument scored on a 1 to 5 scale; higher numbers indicate higher levels of boredom. It asks people to indicate how they feel about their leisure time (i.e., non-work hours). Iso-Ahola and Weissinger (1990) reported alpha reliability on the total scale ranging from .85 to .88. LBS was added to Turkish literature in 2014 for high school students after the validity and reliability of the studies were conducted  by  Siyez  and 

Soylu. It includes two subscales and a total of 12 items. The first subscale is ‘perfection’ which measures students’ leisure time arrangement and management skills. The second subscale is ‘motivation’ and it measures students’ skills in taking leisure time effectively. Overall alpha reliability for the LBS was .87. For this study, the internal consistency coefficient was .88 and the significance level was  p<.01. LBS is a five-point Likert-type scale, whose highest point is 12 and lowest point, 80.

Analysis of data

In the analysis of the data, the SPSS package program was used. For the demographic features of the research group, frequency and percentage calculations were made. The distributions of the variables based on the groups were examined, and the normality of the distributions was evaluated. It was concluded that their distribution pointed out non-parametric features. K-S Normality Test result was significant for gender (D (261) = 0.075, p=0.001; D (236) = 0. 121, p=0.000). K-S Normality Test result was significant for income levels (low, medium, high), respectively (D (15) = 0.226, p=0.038; D (216) =0.099, p=0.000; D (266) = 0.113, p=0.000).

The Mann- Whitney-U Test was calculated to compare the mean scores for the variables studied (gender and leisure boredom). The Kruskal-Wallis- H Test was used to compare the mean scores for income (low-medium-high) and leisure boredom.  The Chi-square test was applied to detect if a significant difference existed between students’ gender and their tendency to exhibit anti-social behavior. The Spearman-Brown correlation coefficient was used to detect if a significant relationship existed between frequency in participating in recreational activities and leisure boredom level. The statistical significance level was accepted as p< 0.05.

The findings revealed that female students exhibited greater levels of leisure than male students; however, there was no significant difference between gender and perfection and motivation subscales of LBS (p>0.05).

Research Question 2: Is there a gender difference relating to anti-social behavior or not?

As demonstrated in Table 3, a significant difference existed between students’ gender and the tendency of exhibiting anti-social behavior (p<0.05). Of all the students, 42% who reported exhibiting anti-social behavior are females; 58%

students who reported exhibiting negative behavior are males. Of all the students, 56.3% students who reported not exhibiting negative behavior are females; 43.7% students who reported not exhibiting anti-social behavior are males. 26.3% of all students reported exhibiting anti-social behavior, which could be termed as negative.

Research Question 3: Is there an income difference concerning leisure boredom?

According to the Kruskal- Wallis-H test  results  (Table 4), there is a statistically significant difference between the perfection subscale and medium and high-income levels. The leisure boredom scores are lower in the high-income level than the medium-income level.

Research Question 4: What are the relative contributions of leisure boredom to recreational activities (physical, social, cultural-artistic and touristic activities) participation frequency (never, sometimes, and often)?

Table 5 shows that there are no significant relations between leisure boredom levels and physical activities (p>0.05). Although all coefficients are positive, near-zero values of correlations show that no significant relations exist between leisure boredom level and social activities. Also, no significant relations could be detected between leisure boredom level and cultural-artistic activities (p>0.05). Except for the “I go to exhibitions-charity sales” item, the rest of the items provided negative coefficients. A negative significant relation could be identified between leisure boredom levels and spending long term holidays outside the city (p<0.01). In other words, there is an opposite relation. A low-level positive-way relation could be measured between leisure boredom levels and a tendency to do nothing (p<0.01). In other words, as boredom levels  increased  the  tendency  to  do  nothing increased.

In the present study, no significant difference was detected between the leisure boredom subscales and gender among the high school students; however, it was also demonstrated that female students reported higher levels of leisure boredom than male students. These findings may be explained by the differences in the type of activities that males and females participate in and the availability of gender based facilities in their city. The findings of no significant differences between leisure boredom and gender support previous research by Weissinger et al. (1992), Weissinger (1995) and Hickerson et al. (2007). Especially during the develop-mental adolescent period, schools and local governments and other institutions have to provide leisure centers (e.g. sports centers) for young people.  There are no sports centers or any cultural services in the state high schools of Ordu City, and also public leisure centers are not designed for adolescents (Ordu Municipality, 2015; OPDNE, 2014). Therefore, students may not be aware of the leisure concept, and may not manage their leisure. In a study undertaken with Canadian high school students, Shaw et al. (1996) showed that female students felt greater pressure from friends to participate in activities that they really did not want to compared to the pressure experienced by males. Females, in comparison to males, were also more likely to please their parents or to satisfy parental demands when participating in free time activities. According to the study of Patterson et al. (2000), rural female students were higher in leisure boredom than rural males compared to urban males and females, who did not differ significantly. Rural communities offered few recreation facilities to cater to the interests of young women. Henderson et al. (1999) found significant gender differences existed between the participation of men and women in leisure activities. For women, participation may be more social whereas men may prefer more competitive activities.           .

On the other hand, a significant difference was mentioned between gender and exhibiting anti-social behavior.  Male students exhibit more anti-social behavior than female students. The most frequently reported negative behaviors are ‘tobacco/hookah smoking, alcohol consumption, and telephone/internet addiction’. This finding draws a parallel with relevant studies conducted in different countries. There was a significant difference between the amount of alcohol reportedly consumed by young males and females. Males consumed more alcohol per week than females, with 30.5% of males consuming more than ten  alcoholic  drinks  per  week,  compared  to 13.6% of females. For both groups, the recently released threshold for heavy drinking by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse placed them in the high-risk category for adverse health events (Patterson, 2000). Furthermore, a Danish study found that men were more likely than women to drink alcohol during leisure activities: 11.5 versus 2.5%, respectively (Gronkjaer et al., 2010). Participation in recreational leisure activities is also believed to be a positive alternative to substance abuse among young people, which is why several prevention programmes have been designed to engage the young in such activities (Munro, 2000; Smothers and Bertolucci, 2001). However, certain leisure activities within certain social networks and context can affect behaviors in a negative way (e. g. in terms of smoking and drinking habits) (Kuntsche et al., 2004).

This present study found that there is a significant difference between the perfection subscale and medium and high-income levels. Leisure boredom scores are lower in high-income levels than in medium income levels. In other words, income may be important for managing and arranging leisure time and avoiding leisure boredom for high school students. This result is parallel to previous studies. Economic factors (e. g. cost of accessing facilities) can be the constraint for leisure as mentioned by many researchers (Higgins et al., 1994; Pittman 1994; Robinson and Godbey 1997). Bone et al. (2003) investigated the needs of 108 young people aged between 12 and 18 years. The young people interviewed reported experiencing a deep sense of boredom, alienation and marginalization that rendered them vulnerable to some personal and social difficulties. One 17-year-old respondent stated, ‘‘There’s not much to do….everything requires money….it’s a boring place…’’ (Bone et al., 2003, p.2.). This shows that economic factors can affect leisure boredom levels.

In the present research, no significant relations were detected between students’ leisure boredom levels and the physical, social, cultural-artistic, touristic and miscellaneous activities that they performed. This result is surprising. It has been repeatedly shown that participation in leisure activities, such as social, cultural and physical is associated with an overall improvement in physical health, psychological well-being, quality of life and survival and reduction of leisure boredom ( Wilkinson et al., 2007; Zambon et al., 2010; Pressman et al., 2009; Hickerson et al., 2007). Besides, responding appropriately to the recreational needs of adolescents is important because the patterns and habits formed during this age are the blueprints for lifelong attitudes and behavior. However, the present study shows us that students do not know the concept and benefits of leisure, so they cannot develop their leisure skills and manage or arrange their leisure time.  This  result  also  supports the idea that there is a relation between leisure boredom level and doing nothing. For example, a survey of students by Shaikh and Deschamps (2006) indicated that most students believed that they did not have sound health because they did not use their time to do anything to promote their health. Students frequently suffer from not being able to manage their time and routine.

It is important to state that leisure awareness in Turkish society may not be as developed as in Western societies, and Turkish society is undergoing a rapid social change from being a traditional and rural society to an increasingly urbanized society. Therefore, high school programs concerned with students’ life and recreation need to offer a wide range of programs and activities that cater to males and females of all levels of education in active competitive team sports, active individual sports and passive leisure to meet different leisure aspirations. By providing a wide array of programs, participants will be more likely to find activities that reduce the opportunity for leisure boredom and reduce the ratios of exhibiting anti-social behavior. In addition, by being aware of activity differences based on gender, providers will be able to develop programs that meet the leisure needs of both males and females. 

The author(s) have not declared any conflict of interests.