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Adolescent’s time use and skills development: Do cognitive and non-cognitive skills differ?

Year: 2022

Type: article

Abstract: This study looks at the association of adolescent's time use on the acquisition of cognitive and non-cognitive (psychological and social) skills, thus contributing to the literature on parental investment and skills development. Specifically, using data relating to adolescent's time spent on school, study, sleep, and play, we investigate how these relate to cognitive and non-cognitive skills of older Indian children. For cognitive skills we use Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), which is a well-accepted measure of verbal intelligence. For non-cognitive skills, we construct a self-esteem variable using pride and shame questions; and a resilience variable using questions pertaining to whether an adolescent can get external help for coping with problems. Our results suggest that time use in all four types of activity has a positive association in the development of cognitive skills but competing associations when it comes to non-cognitive skills. We conclude that parental inputs into skills development, such as guidance about adolescent's time-use, are likely to have a differential association depending on the kind of skills being developed.

Source: PLoS ONE

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0271374

Authors: Bareerah Hafeez Hoorani, Jaya Krishnakumar, Paul Anand

Institutions: Radboud University Nijmegen, University of Geneva, The Open University, University of Oxford, London School of Economics and Political Science

Language: English

Topic: Youth Development and Social Support

Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Quality education

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,805