Stress Exposure and High School Dropout: The Moderating Effect of Childhood Adversity

• In Event: Poster Session 14
  In Poster Session: PS 14 Topic - Education, Schooling

Abstract

Context. High school dropout is a major issue due to its individual and social costs (Rumberger, 2011). This problem generally leads to long-term economic hardships, affecting individual health and family functioning, which can perpetuate inequalities across generations (Conger, Conger, & Martin, 2010). Individuals without a high school diploma are more likely to seek social assistance, be unemployed and have mental health and adjustment problems (Maynard, Salas-Wright, & Vaughn, 2015; Valle, Normandeau, & Gonzalez, 2015). Recent studies suggest that dropping out results not only from exposure to long-term risk factors, but also from proximal exposure to stressful life events (SLEs) (Dupere et al., 2018; Samuel & Burger, 2019). The incidence of a variety of SLEs are more common among high school students who drop out than their peers who persevere, such as family instability, arrests, institutionalization and health problems (Dupere et al., 2015).

The precipitative role of SLEs may be even further marked among some individuals who may react strongly when exposed, such as those with a history of childhood adversity (CA). CA can refer to exposure to domestic violence (Sternberg, Lamb, Guterman, & Abbott, 2006), emotional abuse (McLaughlin, 2016), neglect (Gauthier, Stollak, Messé, & Aronoff, 1996) or parental psychopathology (Rosenman & Rodgers, 2004). Studies on adjustment problems during adolescence, such as depression, show that CA increases the sensitivity of adolescents when exposed to SLEs. A sensitization process would explain why less severe events may be sufficient to trigger adjustment problems among adolescents with a history of CA (see Stroud, 2018). However, little attention has been paid to the sensitization process regarding school adjustment, more specifically high school dropout. Existing literature generally focuses on emotional and behavioral adjustment, characterized by the development of interiorized psychopathologies (see Stroud, 2018)

Present study. This study aims to verify, 1) if CA and exposure to recent SLEs independently predict high school dropout in adolescence, while controlling for several high school dropout predictors such as socioeconomic status, academic performance and sex, and 2) if the association between exposure to recent SLEs and high school dropout is moderated by CA. We expect that high school dropout can be predicted by CA and exposure to recent SLEs independently and that CA exacerbates the association between exposure to SLEs and high school dropout.

Method. This study relies on data collected in the framework of a longitudinal project where 545 adolescents (M age = 16,3 yo) were recruited from 12 underprivileged public high schools in Montreal, Canada. Based on a matched case-control design, the sample includes a third of dropouts who have recently left school, a third of students with a high risk profile and a third of students at average risk of dropping out. The sample participated in individual semi-structured interviews where exposure to SLEs and CA were assessed using the Life Events and Difficulties Schedule.

Analytic strategies. Logistic regressions will be performed to assess the associations between exposure to SLEs, CA and high school dropout. The moderating effect of CA will be measured using PROCESS software.

Authors

• Camélie Archontakis, Université de Montréal (UdeM)
  Presenting Author

• Véronique Dupéré, Université de Montréal
  Non-Presenting Author