Clinical trial NCT01354236: Mental Health Related to School Dropout in Luxembourg
Official title: Psychosocial Risk- and Protective Factors of Secondary School Dropout in Luxembourg: an Exploratory Case-control Study
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Conditions: Anxiety Disorders
Mood Disorders
Eating Disorders
Substance-related Disorders
Impulse Control Disorders
Psychotic Disorders
Antisocial Personality Disorder
Lead sponsor: Public Research Centre Health, Luxembourg
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique
name: Université de Liège
name: Hôpital du Kirchberg
name: Ministère de l'Education nationale et de la Formation professionnelle
First posted: 2011-05-16
Enrollment: 200
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 16
Maximum age (years): 25
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Observational model: CASE_CONTROL
Time perspective: CROSS_SECTIONAL
Sampling method: NON_PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: Cases: The ministry for education retrieves a monthly record of students classified as "school dropouts", who will be individually invited to participate in the study.

Controls: Normally enrolled students who are matched for age, gender, school and educational grade. Their recruitment will be subsequent to the participation of cases.

Brief summary: This study aims to investigate psychosocial risk- and protective factors such as psychiatric disorder, socio-economic background and family functioning among school dropouts and to compare the findings with those by a matched control group of regularly enrolled students.

Detailed description: In Luxembourg, the national authorities had to face school dropout rates of more than 15%. As a result, they introduced accompanying and preventive measures to reduce linguistic and cultural risk factors that may impede educational engagement and vocational decisions. Since 2006, the dropout rate has overall declined. However the proportion of early school leavers who remain without any specific occupation is still alarming.

This study aims to identify psychosocial risk - and protective factors of secondary school dropout in order to deliver solid insight on how to tailor early detection and intervention programs.

In the light of prior findings, the investigators hypothesize that school dropouts have significantly more mental health problems than their peers who go to school. They are also more likely to report a poor socio-economic background, negative school experiences and difficulties in family functioning.

To test those hypotheses, the investigators will have an exploratory case control study.Recruitment of cases will be prospective, from an exhaustive population of dropouts and recruitment of matched controls will be done by random sampling. Data will be collected using self-report questionnaires on mental health, family life and problematic internet use as well as a structured clinical interview to consider psychiatric diagnosis according to the criteria of DSM IV.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Enrolled in a public secondary school in Luxembourg
* Cases have to be reported as "school dropouts" in the electronic records of the ministry for education
* Informed consent obtained and signed by the adolescent and his/her legal guardian if the participant hasn't reached full age
* Understand German or French, which are the two languages of testing
* Resident in Luxembourg

Exclusion Criteria:

* Acute hospitalization or arrest

Primary outcomes:
measure: Prevalence and type of psychiatric disorders
timeFrame: 1.5 years
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Family variables (task fulfillment,role performance, communication, affective expression, connectedness, control behaviour, values and standards)
timeFrame: 1.5 years
measure: Socio-economic background (low, medium, high)
timeFrame: 1.5 years
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Luxembourg
country: Luxembourg
facility: Public Research Centre Health
state: Strassen
Study officials:
affiliation: Public Research Centre Health, Luxembourg
name: Marie-Lise Lair
role: STUDY_DIRECTOR
affiliation: Public Research Centre Health, Luxembourg
name: Pascale Esch
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Esch P, Bocquet V, Pull C, Couffignal S, Graas M, Lair ML, Lehnert T, Fond-Harmant L, Ansseau M. Psychosocial risk and protective factors of secondary school dropout in Luxembourg: the protocol of an exploratory case-control study. BMC Public Health. 2011 Jul 13;11:555. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-11-555.