The relationship between academic performance and delinquent behavior

• In Event: Roundtable: Stressful Life in South Korea

Abstract

Many studies suggest that low academic performance predicts delinquency while others have argued that the relationship between academic performance and delinquency can be marginal, null, or possibly even spurious. This study aims to examine the relationship between academic performance and delinquent behavior in Korean youth within a general strain framework. This study uses Korean Child Youth Panel Survey (KCYPS) data to assess the association between academic performance and delinquent behavior in Korean youth. Using group-based trajectory modeling (GBTM), the consistently low academic grade and decline in academic performance groups are identified and included in a series of negative binomial regression models to assess the effects of academic performance on delinquent behaviors among 1,747 students in Korea. After accounting for the effects of other strain-related and social/self-control variables, the effects of low academic performance on delinquent behavior become marginal or spurious while a decline in academic performance is a consistent predictor of delinquent behavior across all models. Students who experience dramatic declines in academic performance should be considered a group vulnerable to negative coping mechanisms, including delinquent behavior, requiring additional supports and interventions from school and family.

Authors

• Sungil Han, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

• Hyunin Baek, New Mexico State University