High School Dropout: Association with Family Structure, Maternal Employment, and Health-risk Habits Among Female Mexican Adolescents

To determine whether dropping out of high school is associated with living in a non-intact family household, having an employed mother, active smoking, alcohol use, sexual activity at an early age and pregnancy in a broad population sample of female Mexican adolescents between 17 and 19 years old. We studied 765 adolescents from a total sample of 2034 young people who were high-school dropouts using a cross-sectional study and applying a self-administered questionnaire. The association between the independent variables and the outcome variable was determined by multivariate logistic regression analysis. The prevalence of non-intact families was 34.8%. The percentages of active smoking and drinking alcohol were 18.3% and 52.0%, respectively. Sexual activity at an early age was reported by 59.8% of the female adolescents, and 33.5% of the participants were pregnant during adolescence. The multivariate logistic regression analysis shows that living in a household with an incomplete family, engaging in sexual activity at an early age, and being pregnant during adolescence are associated with dropping out of high school, but having an employed mother, active smoking and alcohol use are not. Living in a non-intact family household, engaging in sexual activity at an early age and being pregnant during adolescence are associated with dropping out of high school. According to the analysis, having an employed mother appears to prevent dropping out of high school among adolescents. The results of this study have important implications for parents, educators, researchers and adolescents.