Consequences of Part-Time Work on the Academic and Psychosocial Adaptation of Adolescents

Part-time work is becoming a common fact of life for high school students. Furthermore, its short and intermediate term impacts on the academic and psychosocial adaptation of students between the middle and end of high school are fairly unknown. To compensate for this lack of information, students in Grades 9 and 11 were consulted and asked to complete standardized questionnaires. Longitudinal results (Grades 9 and 11) reveal that the most favourable pathway for academic adaptation was associated to the students whose number of hours devoted to a part-time job while attending school decreased between the middle (Grade 9) and the end of high school (Grade 11). Moreover, the students who do not work as well as those who work a lot, experience costs and benefits on both academic and psychosocial levels. The conclusion discusses the importance of reinforcing every student's protective factors to better cope with the school-work tandem.