Depression in adolescence: A differential risk factor in school drop-out in girls and boys from disadvantaged areas
Scientific research has shown that depression symptoms in adolescents are associated with academic problems (poor scholastic achievement, lack of commitment, absenteeism, etc.). And some authors suggested that a large percentage of youths who drop out of school could be suffering from internalizing problems such as depression. Yet, to this day, no study has investigated the relationship between adolescent depression and early school leaving longitudinally. Hence, this study examined the predictive impact of depression on dropping out of school. Our sample consisted of 139 French speaking high school students (60 girls; 79 boys) from Montreal with an average age of 15.1 years. Participants came from low-SES families and were in regular or special education secondary 1 to 5 classes. They were followed for 15 months and 28 % of them dropped out of school during the study (39 dropouts and 100 non-dropouts). Depression was measured with the French version of the Beck Depression Inventory. Results of logistic regression analyses showed that depression was a risk factor for premature school leaving in adolescents whose impact is additive over other socioeconomic (parental education), individual (age, gender) and school (risk level, indiscipline problems) risk factors. Furthermore, our results revealed that the impact of depression was moderated by gender : depression has greater impact on dropping out for boys than for girls. The discussion explores explanations for the greater vulnerability of boys to early school leaving when facing internalized problems.