Peer deviance and student disengagement in adolescence: Does participation in extracurricular activities can act as a protective factor?
Many youngsters follow a downward trajectory of school disengagement which eventually leads to school dropout. Among predictors that contribute to this negative trajectory, deviant peer affiliation is an important factor to consider. Thus, because adolescents have multiples sources of influence, other extrafamilial contexts such as the context of extracurricular activities could also influence student disengagement in school. It could compensate and even protect students from the negative influence of their peers. As such, the present research aims to study the moderating role of extracurricular activity participation on the relationship between deviant peers’ affiliation and adolescent disengagement in school. The study sample comprised 448 adolescents from three low-income secondary schools in the Montreal area. Results show that beyond important risk factors, student participation in extracurricular activities act a protective factor for girls, but not for boys. The implications of our results in terms of research and intervention are discussed.