Classifying At‐Risk High School Youth: The Influence of Exposure to Community Violence and Protective Factors on Academic and Health Outcomes

Using cluster analysis, 789 predominately Latino and African American high school youth were classified into varying academic at-risk profiles using self-reported levels of academic confidence, motivation to attend school, perceived family support, connections with teachers and peers, and exposure to violence. Six clusters emerged, 5 of which were identified as "at-risk." The clusters were examined in relation to academic stress, health status, grades, and school retention. Exposure to violence was one distinguishing feature of youth identified as most vulnerable, vulnerable, and resilient; however, youth identified as resilient recorded better academic outcomes. Many youth growing up in low-income urban settings develop in positive ways despite having to face multiple challenges and hindering circumstances (Masten, Best, & Garmezy, 1990). Researchers studying the phenomenon of resilience have consistently identified protective factors at the individual and the relational levels that promote resilience in the face of risk from within the community, such as exposure to violence. Individual protective factors include competence characteristics such as self-efficacy, flexible coping strategies, and a sense of autonomy and responsibility (Masten et al., 1990). Relational protective factors include social support resources such as the presence of at least one caring adult, stable and consistent care, and structure and supervision (Egeland, Carlson, & Sroufe, 1993). Other relational factors include connections with teachers who provide guidance and act as role models and positive peer relationships (Masten et al., 1990). Although these protective factors allow many youth to maintain positive mental health and functioning, many other youth are negatively affected by encountering challenging life events associated with living in low-income communities and communities with higher violence rates. High school dropout rates, for example, are as much as 300% higher among poor youth (Lerner, 1995), and low-income urban youth face many ecological barriers and restraints that keep them from achieving their true potential (McLoyd, 1998). Low-income urban youth often experience high levels of psychological distress, leave high school prior to receiving a degree, and enter the world of work lacking the job skills necessary to obtain occupations offering livable wages (National Research Council, 1993). Many youth who display mental health and interpersonal difficulties are too often pushed out of high school (Beauvais, Chavez, Getting, Deffenbacher, & Cornell, 1996; Jessor, 1991). The purpose of the current study was to evaluate whether the measurement of academic self-efficacy and internal motivation (individual protective factors); perceived family support, connections with teachers, and peers (relational protective factors); and exposure to violence (environmental feetors) could be a means to effectively classify youth into different categories of academic risk. The individual and relational protective factors used in this study were drawn from three related theoretical areas: self-efficacy theory (Bandura, 1997), self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985), and diathesis-stress models (Cohen & Wills, 1985; Hobfoll, 1989). According to self-efficacy theory, individuals with stronger self-efficacy expectations experience better career, academic, and life outcomes (Close, 2001; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994; Multon, Brown, & Lent, 1991; Torres & Solberg, 2001). Self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) posits that youth who engage in school because it is perceived as meaningful and enjoyable record better grades than youth who do not find school meaningful and enjoyable because their motivation is internal as opposed to external (Close, 2001 ). Diathesis-stress models argue that health status is negatively affected by stressful life events unless mediated or moderated by social support and other protective factors. …