The Impact of Attending After-school Programs on Children’s Subjective Well-Being

Abstract

Background: With growing awareness among parents regarding the importance of cultivating their children’s comprehensive qualities, more and more children are assigned to after-school programs which may occupy children’s rest time and entertainment time as well as bring extra pressure to them. However, the impact on subjective well-being resulting from attending after-school programs was often overlooked. Methods: Firstly, 75 children submitted the questionnaires and the statistical data related to after-school programs were collected. Then, the data was analyzed by ANOVA in SPSS. Results: The findings of the present study reveal that attending after-school programs can influence children’s subjective well-being, due to three factors: (1) appropriate quantity of after-school programs they attend. (2) If children’s extracurricular programs match their interest. (3) If they have autonomy in choosing their extracurricular classes. With the aim of enhancing children’s subjective well-being, parents are expected to take these three factors into consideration when choosing extracurricular programs for their children.