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SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF EXPECTED SCHOOL DROP OUT AMONG MAINLAND PUERTO RICAN FEMALES
Abstract
The aim of this study was to examine variables that relate to dropping out of school among mainland Puerto Rican, adolescent females. It was hypothesized that risk of drop out from high school in this sample would be related to a number of psychological variables--acculturation, sex role attitudes, and adjustment. Sixty-five adolescent, Puerto Rican females, enrolled at the tenth and eleventh grade level at a public secondary school in Western Massachusetts completed a series of instruments. Ss were administered the Behavioral Acculturation Scale (Szapocznik, Scopetta, Kurtines & Arandalde, 1978) to establish level of acculturation. Sex-role attitudes were measured by the Traditionalism Scale (Soto, 1979). The Symptom Checklist-90 (Derogatis, 1977) was used to assess the degree of mental health symptomatology. Drop-out risk was measured by a scale designed especially for this study, as well as items derived from the Alienation Index Inventory: School Subscale (Turner, 1975). The data were analyzed using primarily t-test, Pearson correlation and discriminant analysis. The Behavioral Acculturation Scale and Symptom Checklist-90 were found to be highly reliable and valid for use with the adolescent, Puerto Rican female sample. The Traditionalism scale in its original version was converted into two scales: Traditional Values Scales and Liberal Values Scales, due to inter-item correlations. Significant relationships were found between the level of traditional sex-role attitudes and the degree of Obsessive-Compulsion. Ss reporting a low level of traditional values obtained higher scores on this symptom cluster. A significant relationship was reported between degree of symptomatology and Drop out Risk. Ss high in level of Drop out Risk obtained higher scores on the Anxiety subscale and reported a high level of symptomatology. This finding does not reflect adequately the experience of adolescent, Puerto Rican females due to the fact that adolescents at high risk for dropping out may generally manifest a high degree of symptomatology, i.e., Anxiety. The results of the discriminant analysis did yield marginal support in tapping the experience of acculturation in differentiating the high from the low risk groups in drop out from high school. A profile of the Puerto Rican adolescent female at risk for dropping out was presented based on the discriminant analysis. The most important factor found to contribute to drop out risk was the educational experience at the secondary level which did not acknowledge and address the needs of a bilingual-bicultural female. The female at risk reported a high level of Phobic Anxiety. Ss enrolled at the tenth grade level were identified as a high risk group. Limitations were mentioned regarding the Traditionalism Scale (Soto, 1979). This unequivocally identifies the need for the adaptation, development and standardization of a scale that addresses the experience of Puerto Rican females on the mainland. An educational implication would be to provide a Puerto Rican female counselor to bolster the role of education in overall development of the adolescent female. This would provide a model and support and reinforce their Puerto Rican ethnic identity. This individual could also provide training and consultation to the school personnel in meeting the unique bilingual-bicultural needs of Puerto Rican adolescent females. A clinical implication would be to develop a counseling model to promote adjustment in Puerto Rican females and to enhance their bicultural survival skills. These students could also benefit from skills in network utilization to enable them to seek out sources of information and support.
Subject Area
Psychotherapy
Recommended Citation
SANTIAGO-NAZARIO, NYDIA IVETTE, "SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF EXPECTED SCHOOL DROP OUT AMONG MAINLAND PUERTO RICAN FEMALES" (1981). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI8118041.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI8118041