20.500.12556/DKUM-98118 Unstructured spare time as an international predictor of adolescent crime This study investigates whether unstructured spare time is a significant correlate of self-reported offending among adolescents in multiple countries. Drawing on survey data from 58,425 13-to-17-year-olds in 21 countries in Europe, North America, and South America, we examine whether time spent in unstructured out-of-home and at-home activities, as well as structured time at home, is associated with offending prevalence and incidence. Using multivariate models that control for key criminological predictors, we find that unstructured out-of-home spare time is a robust and consistent correlate of self-reported offending. Its estimated association is larger than that of most classical predictors. While structured spare time at home is associated with lower levels of offending, unstructured spare time, particularly out-of-home, is strongly linked to both prevalence and incidence of crime involvement. Country-specific analyses reveal that this pattern holds across most national samples. Simulation analyses suggest that modest reductions in unstructured out-of-home spare time may be associated with lower levels of adolescent offending. These findings indicate that unstructured time environments constitute a cross-culturally robust correlate of adolescent offending, with potential relevance across dispositional and opportunity-based explanations, and with implications for how prevention frameworks conceptualize adolescents’ everyday environments. mladoletniško prestopništvo nestrukturiran prosti čas samoprijavljena kazniva dejanja samonaznanitvena študija ISRD4 true true true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Znanstveno delo 2026-05-18 14:43:28 2026-05-18 14:43:28 2026-05-19 03:11:11 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2026 0 0 str. 1-15 iss. 5, [article no.] e0349291 Vol. 21 2025 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 2026-05-15 343.915 278494979 1932-6203 Unstructured_spare_time_as_an_in-Buil-2026.pdf.pdf Unstructured_spare_time_as_an_in-Buil-2026.pdf.pdf 1 578DC52D2145AE0C2EFA6FD364EA2BE3 8938d652dd01b38a7954db08bf3fa97b3e83016e74e3e7b55383a5e2716bd1c6 47ae65fc-52bc-11f1-9c5f-00155d0001a1 https://dk.um.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=206196 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0349291 1 16215f05-52b7-11f1-9c5f-00155d0001a1 https://dk.um.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=206194 Fakulteta za varnostne vede 0 0 0