Deterioration of academic achievement and marijuana use onset among rural adolescents

Abstract

This study utilizes discrete-time survival analysis to assess the effect of level of academic achievement (both contemporaneously and prospectively) and changes in academic achievement on initiation of marijuana use among rural adolescents in junior high school. In the sample under consideration, 36% of boys and 23% of girls initiated use of marijuana by the end of ninth grade. Consistent with our hypothesis, poor academic achievement is a salient predictor of initiation of marijuana use among both boys and girls. Both contemporaneous and lagged levels of achievement significantly predict initiation. In addition, change in academic achievement is an important predictor of initiation. That is, students who demonstrate a deterioration of their academic achievement over time are more likely to start using marijuana. Poor academic achievement and deterioration of academic achievement should be considered as risk factors for initiation of marijuana use among rural adolescents. Initiatives targeted at improving academic achievement and/or drug use prevention initiatives designed for poor achieving students may help to prevent initiation of marijuana use.

Does Sedentary Behavior Predict Academic Performance in Adolescents or the Other Way Round? A Longitudinal Path Analysis

“…The positive association between academic behaviors and academic performance, considering that academic behaviors receive a negative longitudinal effect from technological-based activities in Wave I, are in line with those studies that support the importance of several academic behaviors as mediators between media use and academic performance [ 11 , 15 , 45 , 46 , 47 ]. On the contrary, the negative relationships of social and technological-based activities with academic performance are similar to the results of other cross-sectional studies on adolescents, some referring to a displacement mechanism [ 7 , 24 , 46 ]. In fact, the need (and pressure) older adolescents in High School (grades 11 and 12) have to get good marks to be able to study their preferred choice of studies in higher education may help to explain the positive link between academic performance and academic activities and the negative association with social-based activities.…”

“…Therefore, academic performance in early adolescence may have a motivating force on sedentary behaviors, such as doing homework or studying with and without a computer, while they might have the opposite effect on behaviors, such as sitting out with friends or chatting via social networks in late adolescence. Consequently, a high academic performance may play a protective role in the (excessive time of) future social-leisure behaviors in a similar way as a protective role in the future use of drugs, as revealed in other studies [ 23 , 24 ].…”

Unfazed or Dazed and Confused: Does Early Adolescent Marijuana Use Cause Sustained Impairments in Attention and Academic Functioning?

“…Adolescent marijuana users are also more likely to drop out of high school and less likely to continue their education after graduating from high school (Brook, Balka, & Whiteman, 1999; Fergusson, Horwood, & Beautrais, 2003). Some have suggested that linkages between marijuana use and academic problems may be bidirectional (Andrews & Duncan, 1997; Krohn, Lizotte, & Perez, 1997), as academic failure has been associated with an increased risk for initiating and escalating marijuana use during adolescence (Duncan, Duncan, Biglan, & Ary, 1998; Henry, Smith, & Caldwell, 2007; Newcomb & Bentler, 1986). However, others have found that the association between marijuana use and later academic problems may be attributed to common correlates of both behaviors, such as co-occurring conduct problems and other substance use, affiliation with delinquent peers, and family socio-economic status (Bachman et al, 2008; McCaffrey, Liccardo Pacula, Han, & Ellickson, 2010).…”

Aportaciones De La Economía Conductual a La Evaluación, La Prevención Y El Tratamiento Psicológico en Adicciones

“…Sirva como ejemplo los programas de ocio alternativo, la promoción de actividades sociales entre los jóvenes, de voluntariado, etc. Se ha comprobado que así como el uso de drogas interfiere en el rendimiento escolar, el bajo logro académico es a su vez un factor de riesgo para el inicio en el consumo de sustancias entre adolescentes (Henry, Smith y Caldwell, 2006). Así, lograr una mayor vinculación entre el joven y el entorno escolar ayuda a que se distancie de grupos de riesgo, a que se aproxime a nuevos grupos de pares y a la posibilidad de realización de actividades de ocio alternativas más saludables.…”