LEISURE ACTIVITIES IN CAREER GUIDANCE FOR GIFTED AND TALENTED ADOLESCENTS - A VALIDATION-STUDY OF THE TEL-AVIV ACTIVITIES INVENTORY

Leisure activities may predict adult accomplishment better than conven tional predictors such as intelligence or school grades because their performance requires not only intellectual abilities, but also task co mmitment, persistence, and other cognitive and personal-social attribu tes that determine life outcomes. Research on the leisure activities o f young gifted children has been sparse in part because of the lack of psychometric instruments designed for use with children. The validity of the Tel-Aviv Activities Inventory, a measure of leisure activities specifically designed for children and adolescents was investigated i n 934 junior/senior high school students. The 62 activities inventory items were entered for factor analysis. The 10-factor maximum likeliho od solution with varimax rotation was selected, resulting in extractin g factors most similar to the hypothesized factor structure. The resul ts indicated that the instrument may be useful for career counseling w ith gifted and talented children. Recommendations for the revision of the current edition of the instrument are suggested.