This application describes a plan to test a compensatory hypothesis which suggests that psychosocial factors may offset the negative effects of school apathy (i.e., school dropout, failure, absenteeism and disinterest) on illicit drug and alcohol use. Research on the protective mechanisms that reduce the effects that risk factors have on adolescent substance use is limited. The relationship between illicit drug use and school apathy, however, is one of the more consistent findings in the adolescent substance use literature. Yet, little is known about how psychosocial factors- lifestyle behavior, social influences, and psychological well-being-- moderate the relationship between high school dropout and illicit drug and alcohol use. The risk/protective mechanisms of the psychosocial factors will be explored including analyses that examine gender and race differences for these effects. The study will include analyses that examine the causes and consequences of school apathy as it relates to drug and alcohol use. The reasons youth give for leaving school will also be studied in order to determine whether these reasons are related to subsequent drug use. The interview study is designed to follow 800 youth at risk of dropping out of school from the ninth grade through the eleventh grade. Youth who remain in school as well as those who drop out will be followed throughout the study. The sample will include both male and female and African-American and White youth. The primary independent variables are school apathy, gender, and race. The main dependent measures are illicit drug and alcohol use measured in ways similar to national studies. A theoretical model that integrates the various psychosocial effects on the substance use and school apathy relationship will be developed.
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