Objective: To evaluate a cohort of adolescents as to whether their personal characteristics and/or determined habits of health and social relations bore any relation to the state of their studies two years later.
Design: A prospective study following a cohort of adolescents.
Participants and setting: Third-year ESO (aged c. 14) adolescents from the four state secondary schools in Puerto de Sagunto.
Interventions: Once the cohort (n = 551) was defined, in November 1995 the students themselves filled in a questionnaire on health and relationship habits. Two years afterwards they were located through school registers and classified as good if they were in the appropriate year, repeat if they were repeating a year and disappeared if they had left school. These last two categories were both considered school failures (SF).
Measurements and results: 222 students were classed as SF (40%). 118 of these (21.4%) had left and 104 (18.9%) were repeating a year. There were statistically significant differences in the following characteristics measured at the start of the study: greater SF among boys than girls (46.4%/35.6%): the disappeared had a higher average age than the good students (14.98/14.17), higher average number of siblings (2.73/2.26), and higher average of nights they went out during the week (1.65/0.84). Mean family income was lower in the repeat group (1926087/2475436 pesetas); the money students received weekly was higher in both SF groups (over 900/641 pesetas). Students whose fathers have university degrees made up only 7.4% of SF; and no student whose mother had a university degree was SF. 17.5% of those who said they spent their free time with their family were SF, whereas 53% of those who devoted their free time basically to enjoying themselves were SF. On drug consumption, those who replied they never smoked had 27.2% SF, never consumed alcohol 25.8% SF, never took marihuana 35.3% SF, and never consumed other drugs 39.5% SF. Students who said their relationships with family and teachers was bad had 70% and 62.2% of SF, respectively. 70% of those who felt depressed were SF.
Conclusions: This study confirms that a favourable family atmosphere is important in preventing school failure. It also makes clear that young people's social relationships and health habits are closely associated to their being a standard student or a school failure.