Co-occurrences between adolescent substance use and academic performance: school context influences a multilevel-longitudinal perspective

Abstract

A growing body of literature has linked substance use and academic performance exploring substance use as a predictor of academic performance or vice versa. This study uses a different approach conceptualizing substance use and academic performance as parallel outcomes and exploring two topics: its multilevel-longitudinal association and school contextual effects on both outcomes. Using multilevel Confirmatory Factor Analysis and multilevel-longitudinal analyses, the empirical estimates relied on 7843 students nested in 114 schools (Add Health study). The main finding suggests that the correlation between substance use and academic performance was positive at the school level in contraposition to the negative relationship at the individual level. Additional findings suggest a positive effect of a school risk factor on substance use and a positive effect of academic pressure on academic performance. These findings represent a contribution to our understanding of how schools could affect the relationship between academic performance and substance use.

Keywords: Academic performance; Adolescents; Co-occurrences; Multilevel longitudinal; School context; Substance use.

Figure 1

Measurement model for substance use and academic performance: Multilevel CFA (Wave 1). All coefficients are standardized and significant at p ≤ 0.001 (n = 7984, k = 114).

Figure 2

Measurement model for substance use and academic performance: Multilevel CFA (Wave 2). All coefficients are standardized and significant at p ≤ 0.001 (n = 7984, k = 114).

Figure 3

Multilevel conditional cross-lagged model between substance use and academic performance controlling by student level covariates. All coefficients are standardized and significant at p ≤ 0.001, except for the effect of AP at Wave 1 on SU at Wave 2 (p ≤ 0.01). RMSEA = 0.029,CFI = 0.963, TLI = 0.914, SRMSR within = 0.016and SMRS between = 0.032 (n = 7984, k = 114).

Figure 4

Multilevel conditional cross-lagged model between substance use and academic performance controlling by student covariates and school effects. Only statistically significant paths are displayed. All coefficients are standardized and significant at *p ≤ 0.005, * * p ≤ 0.01 and * * *p ≤ 0.001. RMSEA = 0.027,CFI = 0.960, TLI = 0.913, SRMSR within = 0.016and SMRS between = 0.060 (n = 7984, k = 114).