The Reciprocal Links Between School Engagement, Youth Problem Behaviors, and School Dropout During Adolescence

• Published in: Child development Vol. 85; no. 2; pp. 722 - 737
• Main Authors: Wang, Ming-Te, Fredricks, Jennifer A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malden, MA Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.03.2014; Wiley for the Society for Research in Child Development; Wiley-Blackwell
• Subjects: Academic achievement; Academic grades; Achievement; Adolescence; Adolescent; Adolescents; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; African Americans; At Risk Students; Behavior change; Behavior Problems; Bidirectionality; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child development; Cognition; Cognitive-behavioral factors; Conceptualization; Correlation; Delinquency; Delinquent behavior; Developmental psychology; Dropout Research; Dropouts; Dropping out; Emotional Response; Emotions; EMPIRICAL ARTICLES; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Grade 7; High schools; Humans; Juvenile delinquency; Juvenile Delinquency - psychology; Learner Engagement; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Medical sciences; Motivation; Multidimensional analysis; Predictor Variables; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; School dropouts; School Health Services; Schools; Secondary School Students; Self Concept; Self esteem; Social Adjustment; Social behavior disorders. Criminal behavior. Delinquency; Student behavior; Student Diversity; Student Dropouts - psychology; Substance Abuse; Substance-Related Disorders - psychology; Youth; Human; Adolescent; Personal commitment; Predictive factor; School dropout; School environment; Behavioral disorder
• ISSN: 0009-3920; 1467-8624; 1467-8624
• DOI: 10.1111/cdev.12138

Drawing on the self-system model, this study conceptualized school engagement as a multidimensional construct, including behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement, and examined whether changes in the three types of school engagement related to changes in problem behaviors from 7th through 11th grades (approximately ages 12–17). In addition, a transactional model of reciprocal relations between school engagement and problem behaviors was tested to predict school dropout. Data were collected on 1,272 youth from an ethnically and economically diverse county (58% African American, 36% European American; 51% females). Results indicated that adolescents who had declines in behavioral and emotional engagement with school tended to have increased delinquency and substance use over time. There were bidirectional associations between behavioral and emotional engagement in school and youth problem behaviors over time. Finally, lower behavioral and emotional engagement and greater problem behaviors predicted greater likelihood of dropping out of school.