Chaos in Schools and Its Relationship to Adolescent Risk Behaviors

OBJECTIVE: Chaos in the home is associated with worse childhood behaviors. We hypothesize chaos in the school environment might also be associated with teen risk behaviors. METHODS: We analyzed data from the Reducing Inequities through Social and Educational change Follow-Up study, a natural experiment designed to examine the impact of high performing schools on adolescent outcomes. Students reported the amount of noise, order, and control in their school environment and whether they engaged in substance use, fighting, school absenteeism, and delinquent behaviors. We conducted cross-lagged panel structural equation modeling to examine the relationship between school chaos at 10th grade with risk behaviors at 11th grade while simultaneously examining the relationship between behaviors at 10th grade with chaos at 11th grade. RESULTS: Among a sample of 1114 teens, 90% were Latinx and 40% were native English speakers. Students reporting more school chaos in 10th grade were more likely in 11th grade to report recent alcohol and cannabis use, physical fighting, school absenteeism, and delinquent behaviors in the last year. Cross-lagged structural equation model analyses indicate school chaos at 10th grade is linked to alcohol use and absenteeism at 11th grade, while fighting, absenteeism, and any delinquent behaviors at 10th grade are associated with more chaos at 11th grade. School engagement was not a mediating factor. CONCLUSIONS: Although causal relationships cannot be assumed, school chaos may be an important predictor of adolescent risk behaviors. Future studies should examine whether reducing school chaos leads to lower rates of adolescent risk behaviors.