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Abstract
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Alcohol use and school underachievement are two important challenges for
youths in many countries. Although both problems often appear associated
with each other, so far little is known about the meaning and direction of
this relationship.
In this paper, we aimed to examine the effects of several patterns of serious
drinking on the academic attainment across adolescence, in Portugal.
Data were drawn from a longitudinal study in which a large sample of boys
and girls were followed-up from the early grade levels in elementary school
until the age of 17-18 years, when they were expected to graduate from secondary
school.
Information on alcohol use was gathered through several items included in a
questionnaire of self-reported antisocial behaviour, whereas data on academic
attainment were obtained through several items of an interview administered
to the participants in this study, at the end of adolescence, or from the last
schools they attended during the follow-up.
Results showed that alcohol drinking was already present in the elementary
school and increased with age/grade level, to become almost normative at
the end of adolescence, particularly among males. As to the negative effects
of alcohol use, there were no significant differences in academic attainment
between those who abstained form drinking and those who experimented
alcohol sometimes during adolescence. In addition, when we compared groups
involved in more serious patterns of drinking (e.g. early starters, intensive
drinkers or persistent drinkers) with their peers, there were some significant
differences in grade retentions, which disappeared when we controlled for
other childhood factors such as early learning difficulties or attention problems
reported by teachers, in elementary schools.
Altogether, the findings of this study do not provide strong support to the
view that alcohol use in childhood and adolescence has a direct negative
effect in academic achievement. It would be interesting to examine whether
the same pattern of results will be found in groups with more serious forms
of alcohol use (e.g. alcohol dependence and juvenile alcoholism) or when we
assess the same people in their early adulthood.
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