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A Systematic Review of the Relationship between High School Dropout and Substance Use

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Abstract

A systematic review of peer-reviewed, empirical literature published between 1990 and 2006 was undertaken to determine whether existing research could provide evidence, and a deeper understanding of the relationship between dropping out of high school and the use of substances such as tobacco, alcohol, cannabis/marijuana and other illicit drugs. Forty-six articles were reviewed. The review describes the heterogeneity of theoretical frameworks employed, as well as the limited ability of any one to adequately explain the relationship between high school dropout and substance use. A refinement of the many confounding and mediating variables into coherent conceptual categories would aid more robust theory building and theory integration. In spite of differences in dropout definitions and diverse measures of substance use across studies, the main findings point to a largely consistent relationship between dropping out of high school and substance use. However, socially disadvantaged and poor persons, dropouts, and drug users are over-represented in some of the loss to follow-up groups in longitudinal studies surveyed. More rigorous mechanisms to retain participants in longitudinal studies should be employed. Suggestions for future research include comparisons between urban and rural populations, employing qualitative research methods, and research in developing countries, which have the least favourable school outcomes and a dearth of research on high school dropout.

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Notes

  1. Defined by the Education For All Monitoring Report 2002 as the “Number of pupils enrolled in a given level of education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the population in the relevant official age group. The GER can be higher than 100% as a result of grade repetition and entry at younger and older ages than the typical grade-level age”.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health, International Tobacco and Health Research and Capacity Building Program (IROI TWO5955-02) for their research grant support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, and Adolescent Health Research Institute, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, Cape Town, South Africa

    Loraine Townsend & Alan J. Flisher

  2. Post Office Box 240, Plumstead, 7801, South Africa

    Loraine Townsend

  3. Department of Biobehavioral Health, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

    Gary King

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  1. Loraine Townsend
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  2. Alan J. Flisher
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Correspondence to Loraine Townsend.

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Townsend, L., Flisher, A.J. & King, G. A Systematic Review of the Relationship between High School Dropout and Substance Use. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev 10, 295–317 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-007-0023-7

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