I want to quit education: A longitudinal study of stress and optimism as predictors of school dropout intention

Prior research on school dropout has often focused on stable person- and institution-levelvariables. In this research, we investigate longitudinally perceived stress and optimism aspredictors of dropout intentions over a period of four years, and distinguish betweenstable and temporary predictors of dropout intentions. Findings based on a nationallyrepresentative sample of 16-20 year-olds in Switzerland (N = 4312) show that bothaverage levels of stress and optimism as well as annually varying levels of stress andoptimism affect dropout intentions. Additionally, results show that optimism buffers thenegative impact of annually varying stress (i.e., years with more stress than usual), but notof stable levels of stress (i.e., stress over four years). The implications of the results arediscussed according to a dynamic and preventive approach of school dropout