Relationship of dropout and psychopathology in a high school sample in Mexico

Abstract

School dropout has significant consequences for both individuals and societies. Only 21% of adults in Mexico achieve the equivalent of a high school education. We examined the relationship between school dropout and selfreported psychiatric symptoms in a middle school in a suburb of Mexico City. We used binomial logistic regression to examine the odds ratio (OR) of school dropout associated with students' selfreported psychopathology. Twohundred thirtyseven students participated in the study. Psychosis [OR =8.0 (95% confidence interval, CI: 1.7-37.2)], depression [OR =4.7 (95% CI: 2.2-9.7)], tic disorders [OR =3.7 (95% CI: 1.4-9.5)], ADHD [OR =3.2 (95% CI: 1.5-6.4)], and social phobia [OR=2.6 (95% CI: 1.2-5.8)] were associated with increased risk of school dropout after controlling for age and gender as covariates. Our study suggested that students' selfreported psychopathology is associated with increased school dropout in Mexico. ADHD and depression may be particularly useful childhood psychiatric disorders to target with public health interventions because they explain the greatest amount of the variance in school dropout of child psychiatric disorders. © 2012 Chalita, Palacios, Cortes, Landeros-Weisenberger, Panza and Bloch.