Background and purpose: Due to the increasing high-risk behaviors in vulnerable students, researchers need to study further at understanding the factors associated with it. One of these factors is academic motivation. Therefor the aim of this study was to survey the role of academic motivation in explaining high-risk behaviors of vulnerable students.

Method: This study was descriptive and correlational. The statistical population was of all 10 -18 years old vulnerable students studying in the academic year 95-1394 in Kermanshah province.

A sample of 100 students was selected by convenience sampling method. The Academic Motivation Scale (Vallerend, 1992), and Iranian Adolescents Risk-Taking Scale (Zadeh Mohammadi, 2011) were used for data collection. To analysis of data, correlation test and multiple regression analysis were used.

Results: Findings indicated that internal motivation (r₌ -0/56), external motivation (r₌-0/48), and reluctance (r₌0/38) are correlated with high-risk behaviors. Results of regression analysis showed internal motivation can predict 55 percent of the variance of high-risk behaviors negatively. Morever, reluctance can be predict 31 percent of the variance of high-risk behaviors positively (P<0/001).

Conclusion: According to the findings can be concluded that academic motivational is an important predictor of high-risk behaviors in vulnerable students; therefore to prevent and reduce high-risk behaviors in vulnerable students, pay special attention to the role of academic motivation in educational programs is necessary.