Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Nov 7;13(11):e0205793.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0205793. eCollection 2018.

Association between leisure-time activities and school failure in adolescents: The 1993 Birth Cohort

Fernando C Wehrmeister  1 , Romina Buffarini  1 , Andrea Wendt  1 , Caroline Dos Santos Costa  1 , Rosália Garcia Neves  1 , Thaynã Ramos Flores  1 , Juarez Lopes Jr  2 , Helen Gonçalves  1 , Ana Maria Menezes  1
Affiliations

Association between leisure-time activities and school failure in adolescents: The 1993 Birth Cohort

Fernando C Wehrmeister et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate the relationship between leisure-time activities at 11 years old and the incidence of school failures from 11 to 15 years in adolescents.

Methods: The sample comprised 4,090 adolescents from the 1993 Pelotas Birth Cohort, Brazil. The outcome was measured as the number of school failures from 11 to 15 years, based on reported information from cohort participants and their parents. The exposures were collected at 11 years old, as follows: reading; meeting friends; talking to parents; and dating.

Results: In the group from 11 to 15 years old, 53.3% failed at school at least once. Meeting friends 4-7 times/week (RR = 1.15) and dating 1-3 times/week (RR = 1.22) were associated with high risk for school failure. Reading showed an inverse relationship with school failures (1-3 times/week RR = 0.83; 4-7 times/week RR = 0.71). Reading at least once a week could prevent around 16% of school failures.

Conclusion: The context in which adolescents are inserted plays a relevant role in school performance. Understanding these factors may help to propose actions to reduce school failure rates even further.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Number of school failures from 11 (reported by parents) to 15 (reported by adolescents) years among adolescents from the 1993 Pelotas Birth Cohort (N = 4,090).
Fig 2
Fig 2. Association between number of protection or risk behaviors and school failure in adolescents from the 1993 Pelotas Birth Cohort (N = 4,090).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Corbucci P. R. Dimensões estratégicas e limites do papel da educação para o desenvolvimento brasileiro. Revista Brasileira de Educação, 2011;16(48):563–584.
    1. Brandão Z., Baeta A. M. B., & da Rocha A. D. C. Evasão e repetência no Brasil: a escola em questão. Rio de Janeiro. Achiamé; 1983
    1. Ribeiro S. C. A pedagogia da repetência. Estudos avançados, 1991;5(12), 07–21.
    1. Alves F., Ortigão I., & Franco C. Origem social e risco de repetência: interação raça-capital econômico. Cad Pesqui, 2007; 37(130): 161–180.
    1. IBGE. Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística. Censo escolar. Séries estatísticas e séries históricas. Acesso em: 13 fev 2015. Disponível em: http://seriesestatisticas.ibge.gov.br/

Publication types