A structural model of dropout behavior: a longitudinal analysis

Abstract

Using four wave panel data, a theoretically informed structural model of junior high school antecedents of high school dropout behavior is estimated, using LISREL VII. The model specifies a linkage between negative school experiences, both academic and disciplinary, and later dropout behavior that is mediated by self-derogation in a school context and contranormative behavior including both avoidant/withdrawal and deviant acting out behavior. Subjects (n= 1,714) were tested three times as junior high school students and were later interviewed as adults. Results provided strong support for the predicted relationship between students' feelings of self-rejection in a school setting, stimulated by negative academic experiences reported during junior high school, and their likelihood of dropping out of high school with truancy behavior during junior high school as a mediating variable. Implications for future research and dropout prevention programs are explored.