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Substance Use, Academic Performance, and Academic Engagement Among High School Seniors
Author(s) -
Bugbee Brittany A.,
Beck Kenneth H.,
Fryer Craig S.,
Arria Amelia M.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of school health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.851
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1746-1561
pISSN - 0022-4391
DOI - 10.1111/josh.12723
Subject(s) - abstinence , academic achievement , odds , monitoring the future , substance use , psychology , substance abuse , odds ratio , clinical psychology , medicine , developmental psychology , logistic regression , psychiatry , pathology
BACKGROUND Substance use is prevalent and is associated with academic performance among adolescents. Few studies have examined the association between abstinence from all substances and academic achievement. METHODS Data from a nationally representative sample of 9578 12th graders from the 2015 Monitoring the Future survey were analyzed to examine relationships between abstinence from substance use and 4 academic variables: skipping school, grades, academic self‐efficacy, and emotional academic engagement. Participants were categorized as lifetime non‐users, former users, and past‐year users based on the use of 14 substances. RESULTS Approximately one‐fourth of participants had never used cigarettes, alcohol, or other drugs during their lifetime, and 8% wt used at least one substance during their lifetime but not during the past year. Adjusting for demographic variables, past‐year substance users had 2.71 greater odds of skipping school during the past month than lifetime non‐users and 1.74 greater odds of having low grades. Lifetime non‐users reported greater academic self‐efficacy and emotional academic engagement than past‐year users. CONCLUSIONS Many 12th graders have abstained from all substance use during their lifetime, and these adolescents experience better academic outcomes than their substance‐using peers. Substance use prevention programs should be evaluated as a way to promote academic achievement.