Is dropping out of school contagious? Exploring the role of friends, romantic partners and siblings
Social contagion models suggest that adolescents in relationships with same-age high school dropouts are at greater risk of dropping out themselves. This study provides a comprehensive view of dropout contagion by considering occurrences of dropout among friends, siblings, and romantic partners. The data comes from 12 low-income public high schools in Quebec, Canada. Results are based on a sample of 545 adolescents from Quebec disadvantaged where youths at risk of dropping out are overrepresented. As predicted, adolescents were at greater risk of dropping out when a member of their network had recently left school, especially if it was the case for more than one type of same-age significant peer.