MODERATING EFFECTS OF GENDER ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NOT GRADUATING FROM HIGH-SCHOOL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DYSFUNCTION IN YOUNG ADULTHOOD

With data from a panel (N = 4,679) tested in the 7th grade and as youn g adults as input to the LISREL 8 program, the authors estimated 2 mal e-female sets of theoretically informed models specifying effects of f ailure to finish high school on the latent construct ''psychological d ysfunction'' during young adulthood and controlling for psychological functioning in the 7th grade, father's education, race or ethnicity, a nd other variables. Results suggest a negative effect of not graduatin g on psychological functioning for both male and female students in th e full sample and in the sample of students who did not go on to colle ge (n = 1,871). This relationship was stronger for female than for mal e participants in the full sample, but no statistical difference was e vident in the non-college-bound subsample. These results are accounted for by the stronger relationship observed between starting college an d adult psychological functioning for women than for men.