An Examination of Factors that May Contribute to High School Graduation Among Invidiuals with Adverse Childhood Experiences: A Retrospective Study
Abstract
Many youth receive supports and protections from their parents and those individuals within their community to ensure they grow up to become well-adjusted and productive citizens. However, there is a group of youth that is not afforded the same protections. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) is a term used to describe all types of abuse, neglect, and other potentially traumatic experiences that occur to people under the age of 18. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been linked to risky health behaviors, chronic health conditions, low life potential, and early death. However, not every youth who is exposed to ACEs will have negative outcomes. The aim of this quantitative non-experimental correlational study was to examine factors that might contribute to high school graduation among individuals with high ACEs. For the purpose of this study, high ACEs were defined as four or more adversities a person experiences in their life before the age of 18. The contributing factors examined in this study were school connectedness, mentorship, and resiliency and their combined effects. The primary hypothesis of this study was school connectedness, mentorship, and resiliency and their combined effects will have a statistically significant association with high school graduation among individuals with high ACEs. Out of 114 purposive homogeneous participants in this study, the average number of adverse childhood experiences was five out of a possible 10. Using the Binary Logistic Multiple Regression test, it was determined that school connectedness and resiliency had statistically significant association with high school graduation among individuals with high ACEs when examined individually. When examining the combined effects of school connectedness, mentorship, and resiliency, school connectedness was the only factor that displayed a statistically significant association to high school graduation among individuals with high ACEs. Future researchers in this area are encouraged to 1) Focus on additional variables associated with high school graduation among individuals with high ACEs, 2) Conduct deeper examination into the type of mentoring programs and the components offered, and 3) Focus on ways administrators and educators can engage students with high ACEs in order to develop a sense of school connectedness.
Subject Area
Secondary education|Educational psychology|Clinical psychology
Recommended Citation
Kimkinyona F Dale,
"An Examination of Factors that May Contribute to High School Graduation Among Invidiuals with Adverse Childhood Experiences: A Retrospective Study"
(2020).
ETD Collection for Tennessee State University.
Paper AAI27831811.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI27831811