Cub scouts, youth clubs, church groups, football teams - parents have long believed that sending their children off to do organized activities was harmless fun or that it might even do them some good. However, new research from the US suggests it’s not quite so simple.

A team of psychologists from the University of Rochester looked at how the behavior and academic achievement of 2,500 children from upstate New York, was linked to their participation in organized group activities.

At first glance the results appeared to reflect received wisdom. On the whole, children who participated in group activities - like sports, after-school clubs and church groups - did better.

Likewise, children who were not involved in any activities achieved the lowest marks in school and had a more negative outlook on life.

But on closer examination, the picture was not so clear cut. Writing in the Journal of Early Adolescence Aaron Metzger, Hugh Crean and Emma Forbes-Jones, explain how in the real world, children’s activity was not so easily classified. It was not a question of ‘do or don’t’.

By looking in more detail, the researchers discovered six general patterns of involvement. At one end of the spectrum were children who did not engage at all, and at the other were children who participated in lots of different clubs and activities.

Then there were those in between. Some took part in only one activity, usually sport or church groups. Others were involved in a combination of two. The two most common pairs were community groups and sport, and community groups and after-school clubs.

When they looked at the school achievement and behavior of each of these groups, the research team were surprised to find that positive outcomes were not related to the sum total of involvement - ‘more is better’ - but to unique patterns.

Although those not engaged in any activities had negative attitudes and poor grades, it was actually the children who participated in combinations of two activities who behaved the worst. They were suspended from school more often, were involved in more anti-social behavior and were more prone to drug abuse.

Positive outcomes could not be pinned to individual activities either. Despite showing similar levels of involvement, children who participated only in sport were much better behaved than those who were members of community groups as well.

The research team advise that future research and development work should take into account the complexities of real life. It must look beyond simple “linear relationships” between outcomes and organized activity, they say, to try and discover which ‘activity profiles’ benefit children most.

They also warn that studies that focus exclusively on academic achievement and problem behavior, may miss the other positive effects activity groups might have, such as fostering positive attitudes to life.

The study looked at 2,500 children, aged 11-14, from four middle schools in deprived areas of upstate New York. The schools included a mixture of white, black, Hispanic and mixed race children.

Information from surveys about behavior and school performance, completed by the children, were combined with data from official school records.

The researchers points out that their results may not be watertight, as children were not asked about their motivations for engaging in activities. Sometimes children are referred to school programs and clubs as a result of poor exam results or bad behavior which may have skewed their findings.

See: Metzger A, Crean HF & Forbes-Jones EL (2009), ‘Patterns of Organized Activity Participation in Urban, Early Adolescents: Associations with Academic Achievement, Problem Behaviors, and Perceived Adult Support’, Journal of Early Adolescence, 29, 3, pp.426-442