Life Course Transitions and Educational Trajectories: Examining Adolescents who Fall off Track Academically

Citation

Benner, Aprile D.; Chen, Shanting; Mistry, Rashmita S.; & Shen, Yishan (2021). Life Course Transitions and Educational Trajectories: Examining Adolescents who Fall off Track Academically. Journal of Youth and Adolescence.

Abstract

Educational interventions typically center on youth displaying early academic risk, potentially overlooking those falling off track academically later in their educational careers. The current study investigated the extent to which life course transitions experienced during adolescence were linked to falling off-track academically in high school. Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (N = 4284; 53% female; Mage = 14.88) documented that 1516 students displayed no educational risk in early high school, yet 14% did not pursue 4-year college by age 24. Analyses revealed the unique life course transitions predictive of falling off-track academically (i.e., sexual intercourse, alcohol use, family transitions, residential mobility). The study’s findings highlight important intervention avenues to promote adolescents’ continued educational persistence.

URL

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-020-01376-x

Keyword(s)

Educational attainment

Reference Type

Journal Article

Journal Title

Journal of Youth and Adolescence

Author(s)

Benner, Aprile D.
Chen, Shanting
Mistry, Rashmita S.
Shen, Yishan

Year Published

2021

ISSN/ISBN

1573-6601

DOI

10.1007/s10964-020-01376-x

Reference ID

5904