Skipping class as a mediator between adolescent alcohol use and educational performance

San Jose, A. L. (Alyssa)¹, Frank, J. L. (Jennifer)^1
1The Pennsylvania State University

 

Submission type

Oral only

Scheduled

Room 117, 10-07-2019, 13:30 - 15:00

Keywords

alcohol use, substance use, prevention, school-based prevention, mediation

Summary

Research on adolescent alcohol use prevention has primarily focused on incidence and prevalence. To extend the literature in this area, this paper examines substance use consequences. In particular, this study investigates the consequence of skipping school as a result of current alcohol consumption on an adolescent’s academic achievement (Turrisi, Wiersma, & Hughes, 2000). Educational performance is one important aspect schools can target to enhance potential future outcomes for students as there are many negative psychosocial consequences and risky behaviors adolescents may experience after drinking alcohol (Shields, in preparation). Drinking alcohol can directly lower student educational performance through the effects experienced after consuming alcohol such as being inebriated or hungover.  These effects diminish cognitive skills and can further reduce effort during the following school day or even result in not attending classes (DeSimone, 2010). In order to investigate this relationship, a mediation analysis will be performed using data from Monitoring the Future 2017 to test the effect of skipping class or missing school to cut class on the relationship between alcohol use and academic achievement.  

Auteurs