This study was designed to investigate the current status of extracurricular activity involvement among college students and examine its relationship to social support, coping styles, and depression and suicidal behaviors. Five thousand one hundred and thirty seven students were sampled from the universities or colleges in Southern Taiwan as subjects. A total of four thousand three hundred thirty two students participated in the study. The final valid sample was 4252, and its response rate was 82.77%. Data analyses indicated that 53.9% of college students joined at least one extracurricular activity. Among those, 22.7% "rarely", 13.7% "sometimes" and 13.9% "frequently" participated in extracurricular activities. Compared to the students who had not been involved in the extracurricular activities, the students who had frequently been involved in extracurricular activities showed higher levels of perceived social support and cognitive-problem-oriented coping style, and expressed lower degrees of depression and suicidal behaviors. Our findings supported the hypothesis that stated, "The higher frequencies of extracurricular activity involvement the students had, the higher levels of social support and cognitive-problem oriented coping style, and lower levels of depression and suicidal behaviors they would experience". A further longitudinal study design examining the causal relationship between extracurricular activity involvement and depression and suicide is suggested.
