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Leisure's contribution to health has attracted attention since the early 1970s (Neulinger & Breit, 1971). Recent research has indicated a growing interest in identifying specific types of leisure activities that contribute to well-being and understanding how leisure contributes (Brown, Frankel, & Fennell, 1991; Carpenter, 1994).
Evidence of this interest is found in a collection of papers edited by Driver, Brown and Peterson (1991) that describe the diverse benefits society and individuals receive from leisure, as well as, a compilation of papers specific to leisure and mental health (Compton & IsoAhola, 1994). In the review of the following studies, health is operationalized in various ways; in some instances it may be viewed as narrowly as mental health (Carpenter, 1994), in others as broadly as the combination of physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual well-being (Ragheb, 1993).
However health is operationalized, it is viewed as important to overall quality of life. A common finding of the research presented here is that leisure enhances health because it serves as a buffer to life's stressful events.
Coleman (1993) contends that leisure assists in maintaining physical and mental health by helping people resist stress induced illness, which can lead to enhanced well-being. Perceived leisure freedom appears to be a critical element in mitigating the effects of stress. Individuals who perceived freedom during leisure participation coped better with life stress than those who perceived their leisure participation to be constrained. In a survey study of 104 adults, Coleman also found that people experienced greater benefits from leisure when life stress was high than when life stress was low. Two plausible explanations are that leisure involvement acted in a preventive manner when stress increased, or that people sought more leisure to escape from increased stress.
The buffering effect of leisure on stress throughout life was revealed in a focus group study with older women (Siegenthaler & Vaughan, 1996). The women perceived that leisure contributed to their mental and emotional balance because it provided opportunities to escape the daily stress of life, as well as, cope with major traumas such as the loss of a family member. Leisure enabled them to face the negative events in life and still be happy.
A Consistent Link
Seeking leisure in an attempt to escape stress is...