List of Contents -- 1: Young adolescents and their leisure -- 1.1 Introduction -- 1.2 Position of the present study within contemporary discourses on childhood and youth -- 1.3 Contemporary sociological debates on the leisure of young adolescents -- 1.4 Research questions and research context -- 1.5 The structure of the present study -- 2: Method -- 2.1 Introduction -- 2.2 Cross-cultural research -- 2.3 Cross-sectional age research -- 2.4 The survey -- 2.5 Translation issues -- 2.6 Sample and administration procedure -- 2.7 Methods of analyses -- 2.8 Conclusion -- 3: The leisure patterns of young adolescents -- 3.1 Introduction -- 3.2 Leisure research in the Netherlands: A bird's-eye view -- 3.3 The German parallel study -- 3.4 Research questions and expectations -- 3.5 Results -- 3.6 Discussion and cross-cultural comparison -- Appendix to chapter 3 -- 4: The role of parents and peers in the leisure activities of young adolescents -- 4.1 Introduction -- 4.2 Theoretical approaches in leisure and peer studies -- 4.3 Research questions and expectations -- 4.4 Results -- 4.5 Discussion and cross-cultural comparison -- Appendix to chapter 4 -- 5: Parent-child relationships in early adolescence -- 5.1 Introduction -- 5.2 Empirical research on the parent-child relationship in the Netherlands -- 5.3 The German parallel study -- 5.4 Research questions and expectations -- 5.5 Results -- 5.6 Discussion -- Appendix to chapter 5: Dutch and German component loadings -- 6: Discussion and conclusions -- 6.1 Introduction -- 6.2 Theoretical gain and pedagogical relevance of the present study -- 6.3 Recommendations for future research -- References.