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BACKGROUND: Alcohol-use disorders (AUD) in parents are associated with adverse outcomes in offspring. It is less known whether other forms of parental drinking such as binge drinking may also be a risk factor for offspring's outcomes -- specifically, high school non-completion. METHODS: These questions were examined in a sample of 3101 offspring (Mage = 16.1 , SD = 1.68; 49.5% girls) from 2510 2-parent families who participated in the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study in Norway (HUNT3; Young-HUNT3) in 2006-08 and were followed-up through the National Education Database (NUDB) until 2014. Associations between maternal and paternal binge drinking patterns as reported in HUNT during offspring's adolescence and offspring's subsequent high school completion were examined using logistic regression models while accounting for a comprehensive set of socio-demographic, parental, and offspring characteristics as assessed at HUNT baseline. Effect modifications of these putative associations by offspring characteristics were also explored. FINDINGS: Approximately 1 in 6 offspring (13.6% girls, 21.1% boys) failed to graduate high school within the officially designated time period, while roughly 1 in 5 mothers (20.4%) and 1 in 2 fathers (51.2%) reported any binge drinking. Weekly or more frequent binge drinking in fathers was prospectively associated with more than doubled odds of high school non-completion in offspring; OR = 2.23, 95% CI = 1.50-3.31. This effect remained substantively identical after adjustment for all covariates (aOR = 2.20, 95% CI = 1.38-3.50) and uniform across offspring characteristics such as gender, academic orientation and performance, anxiety and depression, typical alcohol consumption, and witnessing parental intoxication as assessed at HUNT baseline. CONCLUSIONS: Weekly or more frequent binge drinking in fathers negatively affected high school graduation prospects in their offspring.

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Previous research suggests that both poverty and minority status significantly influence academic achievement. Nativity schools, which have been extensively researched, have been found effective for students coming from low socioeconomic statuses and diverse backgrounds. Differences were examined between an urban public school district and an urban parochial school that uses the Nativity model (henceforth referred to as Nativity School). The purpose of this study was to determine if students from Nativity School were able to achieve significantly above that which urban public school students achieved. Specifically, academic achievement in the areas of mathematics, language arts, and science were analyzed, as well as high school dropout rate, high school graduation rate, and entrance into postsecondary education. Nativity School used the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) to measure achievement longitudinally and reported stanines and local and national percentile ranks, while the public school system used the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) and provided four descriptor categories (i.e., Below Basic, Basic, Proficient, and Advanced). Below Basic and Basic referred to students who demonstrate the skills outlined by the Missouri Show-Me Standards inconsistently and/or incorrectly, while students who perform in the Proficient and Advanced categories demonstrate these skills consistently, at or above grade level. Results revealed Nativity School students significantly improved their academic achievement scores and were more likely than urban public school students to graduate high school and enroll in postsecondary school. Interpretation and implications of these results and limitations are explored.

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Focusing on the unique social characteristics of closed communities, the current study examined the predictors of high-school dropout among Ultraorthodox Jewish youth, focusing on background variables [i.e., individual's age, family's religious group affiliation, and other high-school dropout(s) in family]; social resources (i.e., self-esteem and mastery); and parental conditional regard (PCR) and societal conditional regard (SCR), with reference to both positive regard and negative regard. The study was conducted in Israel with the participation of 261 Ultraorthodox Jewish males, ages 14-21 (M = 17, SD = 1.17), who were at different stages in the dropout process. Path analysis modeling indicated that being a member of a newly religious family, or of a family in which another member had already dropped out of school, was a predictor of dropout. Surprisingly, personal resources were not found to be a predictor of dropout, whereas parental conditional regard and societal conditional negative regard (SCNR) were found to be the most significant predictors. Findings highlight the unique predictors of high-school dropout among youth from the Ultraorthodox Jewish community, and the role of PCR and SCR in this process.

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BACKGROUND: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) may be particularly impactful for the learning environment. The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between ACEs and 3 education-related outcomes, no plan to graduate, past month unexcused absences, and low academic achievement, outcomes linked to poor prospects for future social status attainment and by extension, health. METHODS: Data are from 9th and 11th grade participants in the 2016 Minnesota Student Survey (N = 81,885). Logistic regression was used to determine if individual and cumulative measures for 10 types of ACEs were significantly associated with education-related outcomes in analytic models adjusting for demographic and individual factors. Final analytic models tested for moderation of relationships between ACEs and adverse education outcomes by student school connection. Analyses were stratified by sex. RESULTS: Multiple types of ACEs were significantly associated with each adverse education outcome. Relationships between some types of ACEs and education outcomes were marginally attenuated by school connection. CONCLUSIONS: Among high school students, experiences of adversity were significantly associated with scholastic outcomes that portend limited prospects for health and status attainment in adulthood. Strategies for strengthening student school connection may be relevant for supporting youth resilience, and the potential for better stability in adulthood.

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INTRODUCTION: Despite inconclusive findings, educational researchers have long considered adequate parenting practices instrumental in preventing high school dropout among adolescents. The present short-term retrospective study focuses on parenting practices during middle adolescence when dropout typically occurs. METHODS: The culturally diverse, high-risk sample of Canadian adolescents (N = 108; Mage = 16.0 years) from low-income neighborhoods included very recent dropouts and matched still-in-school students. A global score reflecting the quality of parenting practices during the period preceding dropout (or comparable period) was derived from adolescents' answers to a well-established structured interview protocol. Transcripts of interviews were also used to identify the potentially disruptive challenges (e.g., parental incarceration) that families faced. RESULTS: Results show a robust relationship between current parenting practices and dropout that was not moderated by challenging family circumstances or immigration history. Descriptive findings indicate that extreme and relatively rare cases of parental neglect were associated with a high dropout risk, but that most dropouts lived in families where communication and supervision, although not entirely absent, were minimal. CONCLUSION: Offering systematic support to parents of middle adolescents could help to prevent dropout in high-risk communities.

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Gender differences in exposure and reactivity to specific stressful life events (SLE) contribute to explaining adolescent boys' and girls' differential susceptibility to common adjustment difficulties like depression and behavioral problems. However, it is unclear whether these gender differences are also relevant to understanding another key marker of adolescent maladjustment: high school dropout. A state-of-the-art interview protocol was used to assess recent SLE in a sample of academically vulnerable Canadian adolescents (N = 545, 52% boys). The sample was comprised of three groups in approximately equal proportions: 1) students who had recently dropped out; 2) matched students at risk of dropping out but who persevered nevertheless; and 3) "normative" students with an average level of risk. When SLE of all types were considered together, overall exposure was similar for adolescent boys and girls, and the SLE-dropout association did not vary as a function of gender. However, gender differences emerged for specific events. Boys were especially exposed to SLE related to performance (e.g., school failure, suspension) and conflicts with authority figures (e.g., with teachers or the police), whereas girls were particularly exposed to SLE involving relationship problems with family members, peers, or romantic partners. In terms of specific SLE-dropout associations, one consistent result emerged, showing that performance/authority-related SLE were significantly associated with dropout only among boys. It therefore seems that considering gendered exposure and sensitivity to SLE is important for understanding the emergence of educational difficulties with long-ranging consequences for future health and well-being.

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Youths in Japanese residential care institutions often face challenges with social adaptation and career trajectories. This study aimed to examine the risk factors that lead residential care youths in Japan to drop out of high school. Eighty-nine residential care facilities completed a questionnaire that focused on the characteristics of residing high school students, their educational status, experiences of maltreatment before residence, diagnosed disabilities, and the timing of admission. A sample composed of 773 youths was analyzed. Among the facilities, the high school dropout rate among youths in residential care was 19.3% (n = 149). Data revealed that the time of admission had the utmost significant effect. The risk of dropping out for youths admitted at junior high school age was significantly higher than for youths admitted before that age. Overall, residential care youths had a higher risk of not adapting to high school, and youths receiving short-term care demonstrated difficulty continuing high school. These results illustrate the importance of psychological treatment and educational support for youth who enter residential care during adolescence. Hence, attention should be focused on improving youth engagement in school to improve their social and career outcomes.

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BACKGROUND: Our objective in this study was to find determinants of high-school dropout in a deprived area of Japan using longitudinal data, including socio-demographic and junior high school-period information. METHODS: We followed 695 students who graduated the junior high school located in a deprived area of Japan between 2002 and 2010 for 3 years after graduation (614 students: follow-up rate, 88.3%). Multivariable log-binomial regression models were used to calculate the prevalence ratios (PRs) for high-school dropout, using multiple imputation (MI) to account for non-response at follow-up. RESULTS: The MI model estimated that 18.7% of students dropped out of high school in approximately 3 years. In the covariates-adjusted model, three factors were significantly associated with high-school dropout: ≥10 days of tardy arrival in junior high school (PR 6.44; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.69-24.6 for "10-29 days of tardy arrival" and PR 8.01; 95% CI, 2.05-31.3 for "≥30 days of tardy arrival" compared with "0 day of tardy arrival"), daily smoking (PR 2.01; 95% CI, 1.41-2.86) and severe problems, such as abuse and neglect (PR 1.66; 95% CI, 1.16-2.39). Among students with ≥30 days of tardy arrival in addition to daily smoking or experience of severe problems, ≥50% high-school dropout rates were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Three determinants of high-school dropout were found: smoking, tardy arrival, and experience of severe problems. These factors were correlated and should be treated as warning signs of complex behavioral and academic problems. Parents, educators, and policy makers should work together to implement effective strategies to prevent school dropout.

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PURPOSE: Recent reviews concluded that past depression symptoms are not independently associated with high school dropout, a conclusion that could induce schools with high dropout rates and limited resources to consider depression screening, prevention, and treatment as low-priority. Even if past symptoms are not associated with dropout, however, it is possible that recent symptoms are. The goal of this study was to examine this hypothesis. METHODS: In 12 disadvantaged high schools in Montreal (Canada), all students at least 14 years of age were first screened between 2012 and 2015 (Nscreened = 6,773). Students who dropped out of school afterward (according to school records) were then invited for interviews about their mental health in the past year. Also interviewed were matched controls with similar risk profiles but who remained in school, along with average not at-risk schoolmates (Ninterviewed = 545). Interviews were conducted by trained graduate students. RESULTS: Almost one dropout out of four had clinically significant depressive symptoms in the 3 months before leaving school. Adolescents with recent symptoms had an odd of dropping out more than twice as high as their peers without such symptoms (adjusted odds ratio = 2.17; 95% confidence interval = 1.14-4.12). In line with previous findings, adolescents who had recovered from earlier symptoms were not particularly at risk. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that to improve disadvantaged youths' educational outcomes, investments in comprehensive mental health services are needed in schools struggling with high dropout rates, the very places where adolescents with unmet mental health needs tend to concentrate.

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This study examined the contribution of parental conditional regard (PCR) and societal conditional regard (SCR) - divided into positive and negative regard - to high school dropouts' adjustment (i.e., well-being, loneliness, and future orientation) along the different stages of the dropout process. Specifically, the current study focused on dropouts from a traditional community, where dropping out was accompanied by various social repercussions. The study, conducted in Israel among Ultraorthodox Jewish males, included 261 participants, ages 14-21 (M = 17, SD = 1.17), who were at different stages in the dropout process. Structural equation modeling indicated a negative contribution of parental conditional negative regard to adjustment, while societal conditional positive regard made a positive contribution to adjustment. Moreover, dropouts indicated higher parental and societal conditional regard than students at other stages of the dropout process. Findings highlight the importance of SCR and PCR in understanding the adjustment of dropouts in traditional communities.

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The present data article describes high-school drop-out related web activities in Canada, from 2004 to 2012, obtained mining Google Trends (GT), using high-school drop-out as key-word. The searches volumes were processed, correlated and cross-correlated with statistical data obtained at national and province level and broken down for gender. Further, an autoregressive moving-average (ARMA) model was used to model the GT-generated data. From a qualitative point of view, GT-generated relative search volumes (RSVs) reflect the decrease in drop-out rate. The peak in the Internet-related activities occurs in 2004 (56.35%, normalized value), and gradually declines to 40.59% (normalized value) in 2007. After, it remains substantially stable until 2012 (40.32%, normalized value). From a quantitative standpoint, the correlations between Canadian high-school drop-out rate and GT-generated RSVs in the study period (2004-2012) were statistically significant both using the drop-out rate for academic year and the 3-years moving average. Examining the data broken down by gender, the correlations were higher and statistically significant in males than in females. GT-based data for drop-out resulted best modeled by an ARMA(1,0) model. Considering the cross correlation of Canadian regions, all of them resulted statistically significant at lag 0, apart from for New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and the Prince Edward island. A number or cross-correlations resulted statistically significant also at lag -1 (namely, Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan).

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This article answers several questions: Which subgroups of the U.S. population-designated by race, ethnicity, family structure, educational status, income, wealth, consumption, or other characteristics-appear to be particularly vulnerable to a lack of economic opportunity based on household characteristics of the family and its children? To what degree does poor access to economic advancement appear to reflect low income or wealth, or do additional barriers contribute substantially to some subgroups' limited opportunities? Similarly, what advantages accrue to high-income and other privileged groups, such as those born into a well-established married family? What does current research tell us about the mechanisms through which barriers operate and policies that might be effective in reducing them?

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This article uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 to examine the relationship between running away from home between the ages of 12 and 14 and dropping from high school among youth. Propensity score matching was conducted in estimating the effect of running away on high school dropout while controlling for confounding factors, such as familial instability and socioemotional health risks. The findings suggest that having runaway-homeless episodes have a detrimental effect on academic achievement.