Youth in Group Home Care: An Investigation of Negative Peer Influence and Youth Antisocial Behavior

The risk of delinquent to antisocial behaviors among youth (teenagers) seem to be more prevalent in group homes than other foster homes. The aim of this study was to examine the association between negative peer influence and youth antisocial behaviors in group homes. Participants were 875 youth aged 10 to 17 at baseline (2010–2011). Logistic regression modeled antisocial behavior and tested the hypothesis that negative peer influence will predict youth antisocial behaviors cross sectionally at baseline and longitudinally after 3-year follow up, and negative peer influence will be moderated by group home size. The Ontario Looking after Children database was used for analysis. Findings indicate that negative peer influence predicts youths’ risk of antisocial behavior (at baseline). The risk increased almost five folds in 3 years. At baseline ( OR = 1.65) and ( OR = 4.90) after 3 years. Generally, findings suggest negative peer influence underscores youth antisocial behaviors in group homes.

Peer Influence on Aggression at School: How Vulnerable Are Higher Risk Adolescents?

Adolescent students with high levels of antisocial behavior are at increased risk for future psychosocial problems and can be expected to be especially vulnerable to negative peer influence. This study therefore examined whether higher risk students are more susceptible than lower risk students to classroom peer influence on aggression. Analyses were based on anonymous self-reports from 792 students in 55 classrooms at four data collection points that span the beginning (T1) to the end (T4) of Grade 7. The mean age at T1 was 13.12 years ( SD = 0.48 years) and 52.7% of the participants were boys. Students’ risk status was assessed using a norm-based cutoff score from a standardized screening instrument. Multilevel analyses revealed that the aggression scores of higher risk students showed larger increases than those of other adolescents and that this difference was dependent on higher aggression levels among classmates. These results suggest that higher risk students may be particularly vulnerable to high levels of aggression in classrooms, whereas low levels of aggression in classrooms may be protective.

Why do students quit school? Implications from a dynamical modelling study

In 2012, more than three million students dropped out from high school. At this pace, we will have more than 30 million Americans without a high school degree by 2022 and relatively high dropout rates among Hispanic and African American students. We have developed and analysed a data-driven mathematical model that includes multiple interacting mechanisms and estimates of parameters using data from a specifically designed survey applied to a certain group of students of a high school in Chicago to understand the dynamics of dropouts. Our analysis suggests students' academic achievement is directly related to the level of parental involvement more than any other factors in our study. However, if the negative peer influence (leading to lower academic grades) increases beyond a critical value, the effect of parental involvement on the dynamics of dropouts becomes negligible.