title: Risk Factors for School Dropout in a Sample of Juvenile Offenders.
abstract: Backgrounds:The high rates of school dropout worldwide and their relevance highlight the need for a close study of its causes and consequences. Literature has suggested that school dropout might be explained by multiple causes at different levels (individual, family, school, and neighborhood). The aim of the current study is to examine the relation between individual (defiant attitude, irresponsibility, alcohol abuse, and illegal drugs use), family (educational figure absent and parental monitoring), school factors (truancy and school conflict) and school dropout.Method:Judicial files of all juvenile offenders (218 males and 46 females) with a judicial penal measure in Asturias (Spain) in the year 2012 were examined. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to estimate the relationships between school dropout and individual, family and school variables.Results:As for the individual characteristics, results showed that school dropouts were more irresponsible than non-dropouts. Also they had higher rates of illegal drug use and alcohol abuse. Moreover, lack of parental monitoring emerged as a key predictive factor of school dropout, beyond the type of family structure in terms of the presence of both or only one educational figure. Finally, school factors did not show a significant relationship to school dropout.Conclusions: These findings indicate that school dropout is a multidimensional process. School and family policies that emphasize the role of parental monitoring and prevent alcohol and substance abuse are recommended.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Oviedo Oviedo, Spain.
authors.forename: Asunción
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fernández-Suárez
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Oviedo Oviedo, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Herrero
authors.affiliation: Núcleo en Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades, Universidad de la Frontera Temuco, Chile.
authors.forename: Beatriz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pérez
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Oviedo Oviedo, Spain.
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Juarros-Basterretxea
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Oviedo Oviedo, Spain.
authors.forename: Francisco J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Díaz
keywords: alcohol abuse; irresponsibility; judicial records; juvenile delinquency; parental monitoring; risk factors; school dropout; substances use