Long-Term Effect of Adverse Childhood Experiences, School Disengagement, and Reasons for Leaving School on Delinquency in Adolescents Who Dropout.

Sung Man Bae

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.02096

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to verify the long-term effect of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), school disengagement, and the reasons for leaving school on adolescent delinquency while adjusting for sex.Methods: Data were collected from 663 teenagers [male 368, female 295; mean age = 16.81 (SD = 1.10); age range = 13–19 years] through a Longitudinal Survey and Support Plan for Dropouts.Results: Multivariate latent growth modeling (LGM) demonstrated that ACEs and school disengagement are positively associated with delinquency and the mediating effect of school disengagement on association between ACEs and delinquency was verified. Teenagers who quit school for personal reasons reported fewer instances of delinquent behavior than adolescents who left because of school reasons.Conclusion: This study suggests that researchers and teachers need to consider ACEs and school disengagement as a warning index for delinquency with school dropout. In addition, the reason for leaving school should be considered to clarify the effect of school dropout on delinquency in adolescents who dropout.

Highlights

In the Korean society, the rate of school dropout is estimated to be 0.6% in elementary school, 0.8% in middle school, and 1.6% in high school (Korean Educational Development Institute, 2018)
The fit of the linear growth model of delinquency was better than the fit of the no growth model, which means that delinquency increased linearly over time
The results indicated that higher Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) scores were related to an increase in frequency of delinquent behavior, and the effect of ACE scores on the increasing rate of delinquency decreased over time

Summary

Introduction

In the Korean society, the rate of school dropout is estimated to be 0.6% in elementary school, 0.8% in middle school, and 1.6% in high school (Korean Educational Development Institute, 2018). General strain theory (GST) posits that daily stress leads to strain if strain persists, it can lead to delinquency. Based on this theory, school dropout increases strain and may can cause delinquency (Agnew, 1992, 2002; Hoffmann, 2010; Nivette et al, 2017). The social bond theory argues that weakened ties with family and society can lead to delinquency. School dropout weakens social ties and social control, and increases delinquency (Özbay and Özcan, 2006; Hart and Mueller, 2013). School dropout might lead to delinquency, and the effect of school dropout on delinquency may vary depending on the reason and circumstances of dropping out (Sweeten et al, 2009; Na, 2017)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion