A study of the effects of substance use / illicit drugs upon academic performance among high school teenagers, 2007
Mitchell, Obie T.
2000-2009
This study was intended to examine whether a relationship existed between substance use and academic performance among junior and high school students. Forty-two diverse junior and high school students voluntarily participated in this study; and both males and females between the ages of 12-16 were participants. The following two research questions were tested. 1. Is there a relationship between substance use and academic performance among junior and high school students? 2. Is there a relationship between substance use and dropout rates among junior and high school students? To measure these research questions, the researcher used a non-probability purposive sample and an exploratory-descriptive design to compile the research data. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS-X) was the method of statistical tabulations. A modified version of the Parents Resource Institute for Drug Education (PRIDE) Questionnaire was used to obtain the data. Findings from this research study showed that students who stated that they sometimes used marijuana also reported that they were not doing well in school. A second finding was that students who reported that they had been expelled from school a lot within the past year also reported that they sometimes used marijuana; however, there was no statistical relationship between these two variables. Students who reported using marijuana had lower grade point averages than students who did not use marijuana. Findings from this study support national findings that substance use impacts academic performance and school dropout rates among students.
text
application/pdf
2007-05-01
thesis
Master of Social Work (MSW)
Clark Atlanta University
School of Social Work
Calloway, Narviar C.
Georgia--Atlanta
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12322/cau.td:2007_mitchell_obie_t
