Risk-Taking and School Performance: an Examination of Family, Peer, and School Contexts

Introduction: There is little debate that risk-taking behaviors during adolescence, such as substance use and delinquency, can lead to deleterious outcomes. Research Aim: This study examines how risk-taking behaviors affect academic success and also considers the relative influence of the family, peer, and school contexts. Method: Using data from a nationally representative sample of high school seniors. Results: Females and males are shown to have similar patterns of risk-taking behaviors, although males do report higher rates of marijuana use and delinquent acts. However, risk-taking behaviors appear to be more influential upon males’ school performance, as compared to females. Additionally, the family and peer contexts yield greater influence upon females’ grade performance, while the school contextual factors appear to affect females and males in a similar manner. Family and peer contextual factors more readily affect males’ likelihood of pursuing a college degree. Conclusions: The gender and contextual patterns shown in the analyses suggest that the relationship between risk-taking and academic success is complex. The findings of this study, along with its implications, are discussed within the ecodevelopmental perspective.