School refusal behaviour has a major impact on the lives of children and adolescents, seriously affecting their personal, academic and social adjustment. The objectives of this research were: (1) to ...identify, using latent profile analysis, school refusal behaviour profiles based on the functional model and (2) to analyse the relationship between the identified school refusal behaviour profiles and academic self-attributions in language and literature. The School Refusal Assessment Scale-Revised (SRAS-R) and the Sydney Attribution Scale (SAS) were administered to 926 Spanish students (51% boys) aged 8 to 11 (M = 9.57; SD = 1.07). Four school refusal behaviour profiles were obtained: low school refusal behaviour, school refusal behaviour by positive reinforcement, mixed school refusal behaviour and high mixed school refusal behaviour. School refuser profiles, characterised by high scores on the first three factors of the SRAS-R (high mixed and mixed school refusal behaviour profiles), reported higher scores on an academic self-attributional style, in which they associate their failures with a lack of ability and effort. Results are discussed, considering the relationship between school refusal behaviour and unsuitable attributional styles in language and literature. Promoting effective coping skills to deal with school failure situations will seek to improve, as far as possible, the needs of all students contributing to a healthy learning environment.
Anxiety is a common mental health factor associated with school refusal behaviour. This study aims to identify different school refusal behaviour profiles and to determine whether or not these ...profiles differ from each other based on three anxiety dimensions (Anticipatory Anxiety, School-based performance anxiety and Generalized Anxiety). Participants were Spanish children (N = 1113; 52.3% male) aged 8-11 years (M = 9.53; SD = 1.10). The School Refusal Assessment Scale-Revised (SRAS-R) and the Visual Analogue Scale for Anxiety-Revised (VAA-R) were administered. Cluster analysis revealed four school refusal behaviour profiles: Non-School refusal, School Refusal by Positive Reinforcement, School Refusal by Negative Reinforcement, and School Refusal by Mixed Reinforcement. The Mixed Reinforcement group was the most maladaptive profile since it obtained the highest mean scores on the three dimensions and the total score of the VAA-R. In contrast, Non-School Refusal and Positive Reinforcement groups revealed the lowest scores in all of the anxiety dimensions. Our findings underscore the idea certain school refusal behaviour profiles have a higher risk of presenting anxious symptoms. In these cases, the control of anxiety may be an important goal of preventive interventions.
Persistent school non-attendance (PSNA) is a widely acknowledged problem. Family coaches work intensively with families where a child or young person (CYP) has persistently poor or no school ...attendance and there is unemployment or anti-social behaviour. Their work extends across different systems, which gives them a unique, multi-factored understanding of the phenomenon of PSNA in coaching families. The aim of this grounded theory (GT) study was to draw upon the experiences and perspectives of coaches in one UK local authority, to understand what helps and hinders successful intervention. A GT emerged, in which PSNA in coaching families was a red flag, occurring when CYP felt unsafe. This was a product of the home environment not providing a secure base, parents having a diminished capacity and the CYP feeling that their situation was invisible. Successful intervention was relationship-based; improved the visibility of CYP; and increased parenting capacity. Intervention was constrained by conflicting systems that resisted or sabotaged change.
Zusammenfassung
Der Begriff „Schulangst“ bezeichnet verschiedene umschriebene Ängste, die mit dem Schulbesuch in Verbindung stehen. Dabei ist Schulangst keine eigenständige diagnostische Kategorie, ...sondern kann als Syndrom definiert werden, das sich vorwiegend in körperlichen Beschwerden und Vermeidungsverhalten beim bevorstehenden Schulbesuch äußert. Differenzialdiagnostisch abzugrenzen sind v. a. schulverweigerndes Verhalten aufgrund dissozialer Verhaltensstörungen sowie die Trennungsangst. Bislang liegt kein einheitliches Ätiologiemodell der Schulangst vor; stattdessen geht man von einer Interaktion zwischen Schutz- und Risikofaktoren auf personaler und Umweltebene aus. Häufig weisen die Kinder Defizite in sozialen Kompetenzen auf. Im Rahmen der Diagnostik und Behandlung sollten zunächst die konkreten Befürchtungen und Beeinträchtigungen des Kindes exploriert werden. Methoden der kognitiven Verhaltenstherapie sowie Verhaltenstrainings haben sich in der Behandlung der Schulangst bewährt.
This article extends previous research on the development and evaluation of a fear survey schedule for children. It was predicted that children diagnosed with an anxiety or other internalising ...disorder would report fewer fears, a lower intensity of fear and different fear content following treatment, whereas the same changes would not be observed in a control group. A total of 34 children, aged 5 to 15 years, who presented with school-refusal behaviour, were randomly allocated to cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) or waiting-list control (WLC). Self- reported fear was assessed at pre- and post-test for both groups using the Fear Survey Schedule for Children - II (FSSC-II). Importantly, it was shown that the self-reported fear of the two groups was not distinguishable at pre-test. Also, whereas no significant differences were found between pre- and post-test on a total of 12 fear indices for the WLC group, the CBT group was found to report a significantly lower fear score at post-test on 10 of these 12 indices. In contrast to past research using the FSSC-II with samples of children without clinical problems, the pre-test top 10 fears of both groups and the post-test top 10 fears of the WLC group were found to include stimuli related to themes other than death and danger. It was concluded that these findings provide support for the sensitivity of the FSSC-II and justify its use as an outcome measure in treatment evaluations. Author abstract, ed
In order to reduce school attendance problems and aggressive behavior, it is essential to determine the relationship between both variables. The aim of this study was twofold: (1) to examine the mean ...differences in scores on aggression, based on school refusal behavior, and (2) to analyze the predictive capacity of high scores on aggression, based on school refusal behavior factors. The sample consisted of 1455 Spanish secondary school students, aged 13-17 (
= 14.85; SD = 1.56). The School Refusal Assessment Scale-Revised (I. Avoidance of negative affectivity, II. Escape from aversive social and/or evaluative situations, III. Pursuit of attention from significant others, and IV. Pursuit of tangible reinforcement outside of school) and the Aggression Questionnaire (I. Physical Aggression, II. Verbal Aggression, III. Anger, and IV. Hostility) were used. Results indicated that students having high levels of Physical Aggression, Verbal Aggression, Anger, and Hostility received significantly higher scores on school refusal behavior. In most cases, school refusal behavior was found to be a positive and statistically significant predictor of aggression. Students that base their school refusal on the pursuit of tangible reinforcements outside of school earned higher scores, and other functional conditions underlying school refusal behavior were found to be associated with aggression issues. The role of aggression as a risk factor for school refusal behavior is discussed.
•Three school refusal behavior profiles were identified.•Multiple reinforcement group reported higher scores in depression, anxiety and stress.•Non-school refusers group was the most adaptative ...profile.
Negative emotional states are common among youth with problematic school absenteeism, but little is known about their presence across different school refusal behavior profiles. The aim of this study was twofold: to identify different cluster solutions across functional profiles of school refusal behavior (I. Avoidance of Negative Affectivity, II. Escape from Social and/or Evaluative Situations, III. Pursuit of Attention, and IV. Pursuit of Tangible Reinforcement) and to determine whether these profiles differ from each other based on dimensions of depression, anxiety, and stress. The sample consisted of 1582 Ecuadorian adolescents aged 12–18 years (M = 14.83; SD = 1.86) who completed the School Refusal Assessment Scale-Revised (SRAS-R) and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21). Latent class analysis revealed three school refusal profiles: non-school refusal behavior, school refusal behavior by tangible reinforcements, and school refusal behavior by multiple reinforcements. The last group displayed the most maladaptive profile and revealed highest mean scores on the three dimensions of the DASS-21 compared to other groups. To promote mental health in this group it is a necessary goal due to their link with these negative emotional states. Prevention measures to strengthen emotional self-regulation should be considered in these cases.
There is a growing interest in quantifying the risk of presenting maladaptive behaviors through the use of multivariate prediction algorithms such as logistic regressions. The objective of this study ...was to analyze the predictive capacity of school refusal behavior on high levels of social anxiety. The study used a sample of 895 Chilean adolescents (54.3% girls) aged between 14 and 17 years. The School Refusal Assessment Scale-Revised (SRAS-R) and the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A) were administered. The results revealed that adolescents with school refusal presented significantly higher scores in social anxiety than their peers with low scores in school refusal. This is due to feelings of social aversion, negative affectivity, fear of evaluation, or the use of this behavior to pursue the attention of significant others. This type of school refusal was found to be a positive and statistically significant predictor of high scores for social anxiety. On the contrary, when school refusal is based on obtaining tangible reinforcement outside the school, this factor acts as a negative and statistically significant predictor of high scores for social anxiety. These findings are discussed with reference to the differences found according to the type of school refusal behavior and its impact on the appearance of high levels of social anxiety.
Little has been studied on the relationship between affect and school problems related with attendance. This study aims to identify different affective profiles and to determine whether these ...profiles differ from each other based on the four functional conditions of school refusal behavior. Participants comprised 1,816 Spanish adolescents aged 15-18 years (
= 16.39;
= 1.05). The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule for Children-Short Form and the School Refusal Assessment Scale-Revised for Children (SRAS-R-C) were administered. Latent profile analysis revealed five affective profiles: low affective profile, self-fulfilling profile, low positive affect profile, self-destructive profile, and high affective profile. The self-destructive profile revealed the highest average scores in the first three factors of the SRAS-R-C, whereas the high affective profile reached the highest average score in the fourth factor. On the contrary, the self-fulfilling profile obtained the lowest average scores in the first two factors of the SRAS-R-C, whereas the low affective profile revealed the lowest average scores in the last two factors. Findings suggest the relevance of developing more adaptative affective profiles, such as the self-fulfilling profile, which would contribute to diminishing school attendance problems.
Cyberbullying is a common relational problem having negative repercussions on the academic performance of adolescents. Numerous questions remain to be answered with regard to the relationship between ...cyberbullying and school refusal behavior. This study examines school refusal profiles (measured by School Refusal Assessment Scale-Revised) and assesses whether these profiles vary with respect to the level of victimization, aggression, aggression-victimization, and observation of cyberbullying (measured with the Screening of Harassment among Peers). The sample consisted of 1,102 Spanish high school students, aged 12-18 (
= 14.30, SD = 1.71). Latent class analysis revealed three school refusal behavior profiles: non-school refusal behavior, school refusal behavior by negative reinforcements (oriented to the avoidance of social evaluation and negative affectivity in school situations), and school refusal behavior by positive reinforcements (oriented to obtaining the attention of others with significant or tangible reinforcements). The ANOVA found statistically significant differences for all cyberbullying behaviors. Students with school refusal by negative reinforcements had significantly higher mean scores as compared to the other profiles in victimization, aggression, aggression-victimization, and observation behaviors, while the levels of cyberbullying were similar between students without school refusal and students with school refusal behavior by positive reinforcements. These findings underscore the need to consider priority interventions to prevent cyberbullying in children who refuse school for the purpose of avoiding situations of anxiety and negative emotions.
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