Hanging in There: Behavioral, Psychological, and Contextual Factors Affecting Whether African American Adolescents Stay in High School

Abstract

This longitudinal study of 443 urban African American adolescents examined behavioral, psychological, and contextual predictors of staying in high school. Behavioral factors examined in 7th, 8th, and 9th grades were attendance, suspensions, grades, test scores, and grade retention; psychologicalfactors examined were students'engagement in school, their self-system processes, and their experience of support from adults at home and in school. Neighborhood composition and family economic resources were included as contextual variables. Path analyses revealed that students who avoided risk behavior in junior high school and reported themselves as more engaged were more likely to remain in high school 3 years later; engaged students reported more positive perceptions of competence, autonomy, and relatedness in the school setting than less engaged students did; students'reports of supportfrom home andfrom school influenced the three self-system processes; males from more advantaged families reported less support from adults in their school; females from poorer families reported less support from adults at home; malesfrom poorerfamilies were more likely to exhibit educational risk behavior; and males from less poor neighborhoods were more likely to stay in high school. Results are discussed in light of motivational and cultural-ecological perspectives.