How Social Support and Self-Efficacy Moderate Effects of Significant Life Events on School Drop-Out in Young People

Drivers of drop-out have been studied extensively over the past years. A number of studies suggest that self-efficacy and social support help reduce adverse effects of significant life events, such as trouble with family and friends, on drop-out intention but also on actual drop- out. However, over-all, evidence as to whether self-efficacy and social support influence drop-out intention and actual drop-out is mixed.
We examined whether, and to what extent, perceived social support and general self-efficacy affect drop-out of adolescents in transition to young adulthood. We distinguished between baseline levels of social support and self-efficacy and (within-person) change in social support and self-efficacy in order to determine whether drop-out is sensitive to fluctuations in social support and self-efficacy when person-specific levels of social support and self-efficacy are taken into account.
Estimating growth curve models on TREE data, a panel study on the life trajectories of compulsory-school leavers in Switzerland, we found that baseline levels of social support and self-efficacy, as well as within-person change in social support and self-efficacy, affected adolescents’ drop-out intention, but did not prevent actual drop-out. Moreover, our models show effects of a range of significant life events on drop-out intention and actual drop-out. These findings improve our understanding of the role that psychological and social factors play in shaping drop-out intentions and actual drop-out