Postpandemic After-School Activities Among Youths in Australia.

Importance: The long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on after-school activity patterns among youths remain poorly understood, hindering the development of policies to promote beneficial engagement. Objective: To examine longitudinal changes in after-school activity participation before (2019), during (2020 to 2021), and after (2022) the COVID-19 pandemic and assess whether these changes differed by sex. Design, Setting, and Participants: This longitudinal cohort study used linked yearly census survey data from the Well-Being and Engagement Collection (WEC) survey in South Australia. Participants were youths starting year 6 of school on January 29, 2019, who progressed to starting year 9 by January 31, 2022. Data analyzed were collected in weeks 2 to 5 of term 2 (May 2019 to May 2022). Exposure: COVID-19 pandemic. Main Outcomes and Measures: Weekly frequency of engagement in 11 after-school activities was measured in the WEC survey. Ordinal logistic regression models examined the trajectory of after-school activity participation. The results were visualized as estimated proportions over time. Results: A total of 14 350 participants (mean [SD] age in 2019, 11.7 [0.5] years; 7232 [50.4%] male) contributing 36 572 observations were included in the analysis. Participation in music, art, reading for fun, hanging out with friends, tutoring, and sports declined during and after the pandemic. Among these participants, youths who never participated in art (2019, 25.7% [95% CI, 24.5%-27.0%]; 2022, 70.4% [95% CI, 68.8%-72.0%]) and reading for fun (2019, 10.8% [95% CI, 10.1%-11.6%]; 2022, 52.6% [95% CI, 50.5%-54.8%]) showed the largest changes. Conversely, time spent watching television, doing chores, and playing electronic games showed meaningful increases but returned to prepandemic levels in 2022. Social media was the only activity that showed consistent increases during the 4 years, demonstrating the greatest growth. Everyday use increased from 26.0% (95% CI, 24.6%-27.3%) in 2019 to 85.4% (95% CI, 84.1%-86.7%) in 2022. Females spent more time on social media than males, while males experienced a more pronounced decline in reading. Conclusions and Relevance: This cohort study found associations between the COVID-19 pandemic and after-school activity participation patterns among youths, with rapid increases in social media use compared with all other activities. These associations largely persisted 3 years after the onset of the pandemic. These findings provide a timely benchmark for evaluating forthcoming policies aimed at restricting youth access to social media platforms. Interventions to support activities such as sports, art, and music are warranted.