Reconciling Contemporary Approaches to School Attendance and School Absenteeism: Toward Promotion and Nimble Response, Global Policy Review and Implementation, and Future Adaptability (Part 1)

Overview

Journal Front Psychol

Date 2019 Nov 5

PMID 31681069

Citations 16

Authors

Christopher A Kearney

Carolina Gonzalvez

Patricia A Graczyk

Mirae J Fornander

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

School attendance is an important foundational competency for children and adolescents, and school absenteeism has been linked to myriad short- and long-term negative consequences, even into adulthood. Many efforts have been made to conceptualize and address this population across various categories and dimensions of functioning and across multiple disciplines, resulting in both a rich literature base and a splintered view regarding this population. This article (Part 1 of 2) reviews and critiques key categorical and dimensional approaches to conceptualizing school attendance and school absenteeism, with an eye toward reconciling these approaches (Part 2 of 2) to develop a roadmap for preventative and intervention strategies, early warning systems and nimble response, global policy review, dissemination and implementation, and adaptations to future changes in education and technology. This article sets the stage for a discussion of a multidimensional, multi-tiered system of supports pyramid model as a heuristic framework for conceptualizing the manifold aspects of school attendance and school absenteeism.

Citing Articles

Which students skip school? A comparative study of sociodemographic factors and student absenteeism using PISA data.

Fredriksson U, Rasmusson M, Backlund A, Isaksson J, Kreitz-Sandberg S PLoS One. 2024; 19(5):e0300537.

PMID: 38776298 PMC: 11111071. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300537.

Anxiety and school absenteeism without permission among adolescents in 69 low- and middle-income countries.

Dalforno R, Wengert H, Kim L, Jacobsen K Dialogues Health. 2024; 1:100046.

PMID: 38515899 PMC: 10953857. DOI: 10.1016/j.dialog.2022.100046.

Investigating school absenteeism and refusal among Australian children and adolescents using Apriori association rule mining.

Haque U, Kabir E, Khanam R Sci Rep. 2024; 14(1):1907.

PMID: 38253599 PMC: 10803378. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-51230-4.

School absenteeism in autistic children and adolescents: A scoping review.

Nordin V, Palmgren M, Lindbladh A, Bolte S, Jonsson U Autism. 2023; 28(7):1622-1637.

PMID: 38159071 PMC: 11191666. DOI: 10.1177/13623613231217409.

Factors influencing junior high school students' perceptions of attending school in Japan.

Nakamura-Thomas H, Sano N, Maciver D Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health. 2023; 17(1):86.

PMID: 37403148 PMC: 10320959. DOI: 10.1186/s13034-023-00631-w.

References

Layne A, Bernstein G, Egan E, Kushner M . Predictors of treatment response in anxious-depressed adolescents with school refusal. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2003; 42(3):319-26. DOI: 10.1097/00004583-200303000-00012. View

Catalano R, Fagan A, Gavin L, Greenberg M, Irwin Jr C, Ross D . Worldwide application of prevention science in adolescent health. Lancet. 2012; 379(9826):1653-64. PMC: 4398056. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60238-4. View

McLean H, Peterson S, King J, Meece J, Belongia E . School absenteeism among school-aged children with medically attended acute viral respiratory illness during three influenza seasons, 2012-2013 through 2014-2015. Influenza Other Respir Viruses. 2016; 11(3):220-229. PMC: 5410714. DOI: 10.1111/irv.12440. View

Lee J, Kosterman R, Jones T, Herrenkohl T, Rhew I, Catalano R . Mechanisms linking high school graduation to health disparities in young adulthood: a longitudinal analysis of the role of health behaviours, psychosocial stressors, and health insurance. Public Health. 2016; 139:61-69. PMC: 5061606. DOI: 10.1016/j.puhe.2016.06.010. View

Dembo R, Wareham J, Schmeidler J, Winters K . Exploratory two-level analysis of individual- and school-level factors on truant youth emotional/psychological functioning. J Educ Res. 2016; 109(6):596-607. PMC: 5063231. DOI: 10.1080/00220671.2014.1002881. View

Finning K, Ukoumunne O, Ford T, Danielson-Waters E, Shaw L, Romero De Jager I . Review: The association between anxiety and poor attendance at school - a systematic review. Child Adolesc Ment Health. 2020; 24(3):205-216. DOI: 10.1111/camh.12322. View

Van Eck K, Johnson S, Bettencourt A, Lindstrom Johnson S . How school climate relates to chronic absence: A multi-level latent profile analysis. J Sch Psychol. 2017; 61:89-102. DOI: 10.1016/j.jsp.2016.10.001. View

Lansford J, Dodge K, Pettit G, Bates J . A Public Health Perspective on School Dropout and Adult Outcomes: A Prospective Study of Risk and Protective Factors From Age 5 to 27 Years. J Adolesc Health. 2016; 58(6):652-8. PMC: 4877222. DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2016.01.014. View

Last C, Strauss C . School refusal in anxiety-disordered children and adolescents. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 1990; 29(1):31-5. DOI: 10.1097/00004583-199001000-00006. View

10.

Stephan S, Sugai G, Lever N, Connors E . Strategies for integrating mental health into schools via a multitiered system of support. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 2015; 24(2):211-31. DOI: 10.1016/j.chc.2014.12.002. View

11.

Bernstein G, Garfinkel B . School phobia: the overlap of affective and anxiety disorders. J Am Acad Child Psychiatry. 1986; 25(2):235-41. DOI: 10.1016/s0002-7138(09)60231-4. View

12.

Ruscio J, Ruscio A . Categories and Dimensions Advancing Psychological Science Through the Study of Latent Structure. Curr Dir Psychol Sci. 2011; 17(3):203-207. PMC: 2736067. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8721.2008.00575.x. View

13.

Lum A, Wakefield C, Donnan B, Burns M, Fardell J, Marshall G . Understanding the school experiences of children and adolescents with serious chronic illness: a systematic meta-review. Child Care Health Dev. 2017; 43(5):645-662. DOI: 10.1111/cch.12475. View

14.

Morrissey T, Hutchison L, Winsler A . Family income, school attendance, and academic achievement in elementary school. Dev Psychol. 2013; 50(3):741-53. DOI: 10.1037/a0033848. View

15.

Fernandez-Sogorb A, Ingles C, Sanmartin R, Gonzalvez C, Vicent M, Garcia-Fernandez Y . Validation of the Visual Analogue Scale for Anxiety-Revised and school refusal across anxiety profiles. Int J Clin Health Psychol. 2018; 18(3):264-272. PMC: 6225016. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijchp.2018.07.002. View

16.

Vaughn M, Maynard B, Salas-Wright C, Perron B, Abdon A . Prevalence and correlates of truancy in the US: results from a national sample. J Adolesc. 2013; 36(4):767-76. PMC: 3713173. DOI: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.03.015. View

17.

Eaton D, Kann L, Kinchen S, Shanklin S, Ross J, Hawkins J . Youth risk behavior surveillance--United States, 2007. MMWR Surveill Summ. 2008; 57(4):1-131. View

18.

Arora P, Connors E, George M, Lyon A, Wolk C, Weist M . Advancing Evidence-Based Assessment in School Mental Health: Key Priorities for an Applied Research Agenda. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev. 2016; 19(4):271-284. DOI: 10.1007/s10567-016-0217-y. View

19.

Burton C, Marshal M, Chisolm D . School absenteeism and mental health among sexual minority youth and heterosexual youth. J Sch Psychol. 2014; 52(1):37-47. PMC: 4058829. DOI: 10.1016/j.jsp.2013.12.001. View

20.

Wood J, Lynne-Landsman S, Langer D, Wood P, Clark S, Eddy J . School attendance problems and youth psychopathology: structural cross-lagged regression models in three longitudinal data sets. Child Dev. 2011; 83(1):351-66. PMC: 3266956. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01677.x. View