Latent Vulnerability Among Low-Risk Adolescents

Abstract

This longitudinal study assessed education achievement outcomes among a cohort of eighth graders for whom future college-level academic success would be predicted. The sample was drawn from the NELS:88 database and was comprised of students who scored in the top quintile on a mathematics achievement test and who were identified as representing the top two quartiles of a measurement of socio-economic status. This group, identified as low-risk for academic failure, was predicted to attain a bachelor's degree by the age of twenty-six. A subgroup from among this sample did not attain a bachelor's degree by age twenty-six. In the interest of illuminating features of latent vulnerability, differences between the two groups were explored. Data from the nationally representative sample of 2,355 students was analyzed using several approaches. Results suggest that certain vulnerabilities which may be considered to be dormant (e.g., negative self-concept), eventually have negative effects on academic outcomes for the non-graduating group despite predictions to the contrary. These adolescents exhibit features of latent vulnerability.