Consommation de psychotropes et délinquance : de bons prédicteurs de l’abandon scolaire ?

Abstract

Although empirical links between deviant behavior and school dropout have been extensively demonstrated, the specific influence of drug use and delinquency on school dropout is still not clear and varies across studies. One reason for this lack of consistency may rests upon the way samples of dropouts have been analysed. Recently, Janosz, Le Blanc, Boulerice and Tremblay (1996) constructed and validated a typology of school dropout highlithing the social and psychological diversity of this population. Using a longitudinal sample of adolescents (N=791), we analyzed the predictive relationships of family rebelliousness, drug use and delinquency on school dropout. The results showed an important variability in the predictive relationships according to the type of dropouts. The necessity of considering the psychosocial heterogeneity of dropouts when conducting such studies is discussed.