The peer relations of dropouts: a comparative study of at-risk and not at-risk youths

Social network determinants of alcohol and tobacco use: A qualitative study among out of school youth in South Africa

An important determinant of alcohol and tobacco use is the adolescent's social network, which has not been explored among out of school youth (OSY). OSY are adolescents not currently enrolled in school and have not completed their schooling. This study aims to qualitatively understand how OSY's social networks support or constrain alcohol and tobacco use. Respondent-driven sampling was used to select 41 OSY (aged 13-20 years) for individual in-depth interviews in a South African urban area. The data were analysed using content analysis. Smoking and drinking friends, family close in age to OSY that drank and smoked, and lack of parental support were associated with alcohol and tobacco use among OSY. Household norms, romantic partners and non-smoking or non-drinking friends were suggested to mitigate alcohol and tobacco use. Understanding how the social network of OSY plays a role in alcohol and tobacco use is useful for gaining an insight into the profile of OSY at risk for alcohol and tobacco use. Registration of OSY youth and community-based peer led programmes that include influential OSY family and friends could be beneficial.

Youth and Parental Correlates of Externalizing Symptoms, Adaptive Functioning, and Academic Performance: An Exploratory Study in Preadolescent Blacks

The effects of youth and parenting factors on school functioning were assessed in a preadolescent sample of 70 Blacks. Attitudes about deviance and types of peer associations were reported by youth, and perceived achievement control and hostile control were provided by parents. Additional information about academic performance, adaptive functioning, and externalizing symptoms was recounted by teachers. Multiple regression analyses indicated that hostile control was positively related to delinquency symptoms and that achievement control was negatively associated with academic performance. These analyses also revealed that the modeling of negative behaviors by friends was positively related to aggression and delinquency symptoms and that perceptions of academic competence were positively associated with adaptive functioning and academic performance. Although replication of the current findings is clearly needed, the findings highlight the mutual influences of parental and youth factors to academic adjustments in Black youth.

Are You Your Friends' Friend? Poor Perception of Friendship Ties Limits the Ability to Promote Behavioral Change

Persuasion is at the core of norm creation, emergence of collective action, and solutions to ‘tragedy of the commons’ problems. In this paper, we show that the directionality of friendship ties affect the extent to which individuals can influence the behavior of each other. Moreover, we find that people are typically poor at perceiving the directionality of their friendship ties and that this can significantly limit their ability to engage in cooperative arrangements. This could lead to failures in establishing compatible norms, acting together, finding compromise solutions, and persuading others to act. We then suggest strategies to overcome this limitation by using two topological characteristics of the perceived friendship network. The findings of this paper have significant consequences for designing interventions that seek to harness social influence for collective action.

I want to quit education: a longitudinal study of stress and optimism as predictors of school dropout intention

Prior research on school dropout has often focused on stable person- and institution-level variables. In this research, we investigate longitudinally perceived stress and optimism as predictors of dropout intentions over a period of four years, and distinguish between stable and temporary predictors of dropout intentions. Findings based on a nationally representative sample of 16-20 year-olds in Switzerland (N = 4312) show that both average levels of stress and optimism as well as annually varying levels of stress and optimism affect dropout intentions. Additionally, results show that optimism buffers the negative impact of annually varying stress (i.e., years with more stress than usual), but not of stable levels of stress (i.e., stress over four years). The implications of the results are discussed according to a dynamic and preventive approach of school dropout.

Dropping out of high school: Effects of close and distant friendships

Prior research highlights the role of friends in influencing whether a student completes high school. Students who drop out tend to have fewer friends, as well as friends who are less oriented toward school success. We distinguish between close and distant friendships by developing a theoretical framework which predicts close and distant friends likely have distinct effects on dropping out. Close friendships provide valuable emotional support, and forging numerous close friendships at school should decrease one's risk of dropping out. In contrast, the characteristics of distant friends help shape students' social identities and beliefs about "what's normative." Our analyses of the Add Health data set confirm our expectations. Students with more close friendships are less likely to drop out, but close friends' characteristics are unrelated to dropping out. Distant relationships (as measured by affect and regularity of interaction) with friends who have a high risk of dropping out significantly increase a student's own risk of dropping out.

Latino Students in New Arrival States: Factors and Services to Prevent Youth From Dropping Out

Latino youth are more likely than any other ethnic group to drop out of high school in the United States. Though some research has helped us understand the factors leading to dropout, very few studies have assessed Latino student’s opinions of services and factors that would help them stay in school (e.g., family, school, peers, and policies). This study presents the results of an in-depth survey of 501 Latino students in North Carolina public schools. Findings suggest that Latino youth drop out because of the difficulty of their school work, personal problems (e.g., pregnancy or problems at home), the need to work to support their family economically, and peer pressure. Students suggest improved academic and personal support in the form of tutoring, mentoring, after-school programs; improved English as a second language classes; and more Spanish-speaking staff/teachers. Recommendations for intervention and policy are suggested.

Do You Like Me as Much as I Like You? Friendship Reciprocity and Its Effects on School Outcomes among Adolescents

Social scientists have long suspected that friendship dyads are not always reciprocated and those that are reciprocated are likely to be more intimate. Close friendships may provide youth with an environment conducive to healthy development and educational outcomes. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), a nationally representative data set of youth, we examine how attributes of respondents and their friends affect the odds of reciprocity between adolescents. Asian Americans and females are the most likely to have reciprocated friendships. Interracial friendships are less likely to be reciprocated than intraracial friendships. Further, adolescents with reciprocated friendships report higher levels of school belonging. Finally, reciprocity and school belonging both exert independent effects on academic performance. Friendship reciprocity is an important indicator of social support above and beyond the numbers of friends reported by youth.

The protective value of school enrolment against sexually transmitted disease: a study of high-risk African American adolescent females

OBJECTIVE

To identify whether school enrolment is protective against laboratory-confirmed diagnosis of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and against a spectrum of sexual risk factors.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study of 715 African-American adolescent females (15-21 years old) was conducted. Data collection included an audio-computer-assisted self-interview lasting about 60 min and a self-collected vaginal swab for nucleic acid amplification testing of Trichomonas vaginalis, Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

RESULTS

In total, 65% were enrolled in school. After adjusting for age and whether adolescents resided with a family member, those not enrolled were twice as likely to test positive for one of the three STDs compared with those enrolled (adjusted OR2; 95% CI 1.38 to 2.91). Similarly, school enrolment was protective against risk factors contributing to STD acquisition. The measures of sexual risk behaviour of 8 of 10, retained significance after adjusting for the covariates, and 2 of the 3 psychosocial mediators retained significance.

CONCLUSION

This study provides initial evidence suggesting that keeping high-risk African-American adolescent females in school (including forms of school that occur after high-school graduation) may be important from a public health standpoint.

Risk and protective factors for substance use among African American high school dropouts

Risk and protective factors that predict substance use were investigated with 318 African American high school dropout youths who completed the 1992 follow-up of the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988. A conceptual model linking positive family relationships and religious involvement to youths' substance use and conventional peer affiliations through a positive life orientation was examined with structural equation modeling. Positive life orientation, which included optimism and conventional goals for the future, fully mediated the influence of family relationships on conventional peer affiliations. Religious involvement directly predicted conventional peer affiliations and positive life orientation. Conventional peer affiliations mediated the other variables' influence on substance use.