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Educational psychology > school non-attendence > Flashcards

school non-attendence Flashcards

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1
Q

persistent absentees

A

attendance less that 90%

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2
Q

severe absentees

A

attendance less than 50%

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3
Q

anna freud centre on prevalence of persistent absence

further reading

A
  • in Autum 2021, 1 in 4 children were persistently absent
  • in 2018/2019, this figure was 1 in 9 - meaning that persistent absence has more than doubled in the time period
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4
Q

square peg CIC on prevalence of persistently absent groups

further reading

A
  • 36% of those with an EHCP
  • 31% receiving SEN support
  • 35% receiving free school meals
  • 46% young carers
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5
Q

early typology of non-attendance

A
  • blagg (1987)
  • school phobia
  • truancy
  • other poor attenders
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6
Q

school phobia

blagg (1987)

A
  • severe difficulties with attendance
  • high levels of emotional distress - anxiety
  • parents often know the child is at home
  • no other anti-social problems
  • fearful of coming to school
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7
Q

truancy

blagg (1987)

A
  • absent but without good reason
  • no evidence of emotional distress
  • parents unaware or unable to exert influence
  • often child not at home

critical evaluation: is there different ways that children show emotional distress

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8
Q

school refusal behaviours

recent distinctions

A
  • “child motivated refusal to attend school or difficulties remaining in school for the entire day” (Kearney & Silberman, 1999)
  • school refusal (AKA emotionally-based school avoidance)
  • truancy - absence without good reason or permission
  • school withdrawal - absence motivated, initiated or condoned by parents
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9
Q

school refusal/EBSA

A
  • reduced attendance or attending with significant reluctance e.g. a spectrum (Kearney, 2006)
  • emotional distress connected with learning or social factors
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10
Q

EBSA not just meaning not attending school - anna freud centre

further reading

A
  • not going to classroom
  • not staying in class
  • not attending some lessons
  • avoiding some lessons
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11
Q

linking EBSA to mental health

A
  • associated with emotional regulation problems, negative thinking, low self-efficacy, and somatic complains (Ingul et al., 2019)
  • anxiety is evoked by going to school (Thambirajah et al., 2008)
  • perhaps: if children didn’t feel anxious, they would go to school?
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12
Q

linking truancy to mental health

A
  • child is absent ‘without good reason’ (Havik & Ingul, 2021)
  • associated with disaffection & externalising beh
  • could potentially be quite disruptive in lessons
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13
Q

using flooding to reduce non-attendance

A

make child come to school, see it isn’t that bad, ethical issues in making child come into school for 8 hours in a really distressing situation for them.

Tends not to work as overwhelming and tends to make it worse

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14
Q

using systematic desensitisation to reduce non-attendance

A

build up time in school step by step, phased reintegration to school, more success. Stand at gates –> meet key adults –> reception –> areas that are safe…

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15
Q

manipulating reinforcement factors to reduce non-attendance

A

make school a positive experience (do fun stuff, rewards), but also reduced positive experiences at home (e.g. limit access to video games during school hours), quite a bit of success

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16
Q

developing coping through behaviourist ideas

non-attendance

A
  • gulliford & miller (2023)
  • CC: flooding, systematic desensitisation
  • OC: manipulating reinforcement factors
  • small scale studies & professional experience provides evidence for effectiveness
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17
Q

resolving anxiety through psychotherapy

A
  • addressing the anxiety, primarily, through mental health services
  • individual psychotherapy - slow & not supportive of a rapid return
  • if low attendance in school, the likelihood of getting the child to the therapy regularly is also quite low
  • family therapy has mixed ev for anxiety disorders generally (Carr, 2009)
18
Q

CBT for non-attendance

A
  • how has the child’s experiences shaped their thoughts, feelings and beh toward school? - Heyne et al. (2005)
  • combining cog restructuring (thinking differently) & coping skills
  • widely accepted as a helpful tool - King & Bernstein (2001)
  • anxiety in terms of anxious thinking (internal feelings) body sensations which lead to beh (in this case avoiding school)
  • teaching them to regulate physiological responses to anxiety
19
Q

issues with CBT for non-attendance

A
  • high rates of persistent anxiety after psychotherapy - will still feel anxious, CBT is a tool for managing the distress
  • ~60% of children show little improvement in attendance - not just the distress
  • outcomes seem stronger with younger children
20
Q

4 functions of non-attendance

kearney & silverman (1990)

A
  1. avoidance of negative affect
  2. escape from social and/or evaluative situation
  3. pursuit of attention, or reduction of separation anxiety
  4. pursuit of tangible reinforcement

these are the textbook explanations for kearney & silverman’s four functions

21
Q

how do we account for complexity?

non-attendance

A
  • school refusal “is produced by many contributing factors rather than a single cause” - Knage (2021)
  • ecological approaches consider the interaction between the child & factors in their envs
  • using functional formulations to guide intervention
22
Q

systematic integrated cognitive approach to non-attendance

havik & ingul (2021)

A
  • interaction between the child’s personal qualities & appraisal of stressors in the environment
  • ev that some personal factors raise vulnerability e.g. neurodivergence
  • activation of new coping strategies when stress outweighs coping resources
  • for some children, coping might mean avoidance of school - even when school isn’t the source of stress
  • through school avoidance, risk of school alienation might rise
23
Q

ecology of school refusal

A
  • child, school, home interplaying factors
  • need to consider that child develops within multiple systems
  • bioecologicalmodel of development (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2007)
  • push and pull factors - tipping point

ingul et al. (2019), melvin et al. (2019)

24
Q

bioecological model of development

bronfenbrenner & morris (2007)

A

dev = child + process + context

25
Q

school factors impacting school refusal

A
  • school ‘climate’ associated w/ SR (Brewer-Borghuis et al., 2019)
  • order, safety and discipline
  • academic outcomes
  • social relationships
  • supportive school facilities
  • school connectedness
26
Q

order, safety and discipline

impact on school refusal

A
  • schools that lack psychological and physical safety (Havik et al., 2014)
  • bullying and disruption: being grouped with troubled or disaffected pupils (Lauchlan, 2003)
  • monitoring of unstructured areas

link to bullying and behaviour management lecture

27
Q

academic outcomes

impact on school refusal

A
  • academic difficulties or anxiety about academic performance
  • lack of attuned academic support leading to stress
  • academic pressures can make the school feel psychologically unsafe

link to instructional psychology lecture

28
Q

social relationships

impact on school refusal

A
  • frequency and quality of peer contact - links to resilience
  • formal, impersonal or hostile teachers (Lauclan, 2003) - need to find a good balance
29
Q

supportive school facilities

impact on school refusal

A
  • limited research
  • school size, layout and levels of social and sensory stimulation (Archer et al., 2003; Havik et al., 2004)
30
Q

school connectedness

impact on school refusal

A

a sense of adults in schools appreciating the child or believing in them (Nuttall & Woods, 2013)

link to mental health lecture

31
Q

what did the textbook say on school-focused interventions

further reading

A
  • a positive school climate can positively correlate with attainment and outcome for students (Tomaszewski et al., 2020)
  • educational adaptations may include off-site alternative educational provision (Brouwer-Borghuis et al., 2019)
  • the intensity and cost of such programmes, in terms of human resources, should not be overlooked, and the responsibilities upon school staff can be considerable
32
Q

family factors impacting non-attendance

A
  • parents often describe feeling blamed (Lissack & Boyle, 2022) - can lead to low supportive or punitive responses
  • lots of potential factors but mixed ev: parental mental health and self-efficacy; unhealthy or problematic family functioning; traumatic experiences; older parents; being youngest of several siblings
  • parental mental health, poor family functioning and overprotection seem to have strongest evidence as contributory factors
33
Q

textbook on family interventions

further reading

A
  • mixed evidence (Heyne, 2022)
  • often address the contingencies (e.g. rewards) for non-attendance
  • problem-solve with their child
34
Q

risk factors of non-attendance

leduc et al. (2022)

A
  • school factors
  • family factors
  • personal factors
  • interaction of all of them
35
Q

personal factors impacting non-attendance

leduc et al. (2022)

A
  • age (especially seen at 5/6, 11/12 and 13/14)
  • fear of failure or poor self-confidencce
  • developmental diffs, especially if unidentified or unsupported
  • trauma
  • poor emotional skills
36
Q

responding to school refusal: ecological approaches

A
  • multi-systemic intervention
  • turning things around: the case for preventive approaches
37
Q

multi-systemic intervention

A
  • five-factor model: the child, family, peer group, school, and community (Kearney, 2008)
  • compatible with other approaches, especially functional assessment and cognitive-behavioural approaches
  • but not without challenge
38
Q

the case for preventive approaches

A
  • school improvement and dev work
  • reactionary support is expensive and labour intensive (Chu et al., 2019; Ingul et al., 2019)
39
Q

alternative education provisions

A
  • when attempts at reintegration have failed
  • often derived from school climate and SR experiences
  • supportive, small-scale studies (Brewer-Borghuis et al., 2019): calm envs, low threat schoolwork, supporting positive interactions, gradual return to mainstream
40
Q

outcomes for YP who display EBSA

west sussex council

further reading

A
  • poor academic attainment
  • reduced social opportunities
  • limited employment opportunities
  • poor adult mental health
41
Q

textbook on consequences of non-attendance

further reading

A
  • lowered learning and attainment –> potential for reduced career options (Elliot & Place, 2019)
  • risk factor for self-harm and other behaviours associated with adolescence e.g. risky sexual behaviours or substance use (Kearney, 2008)
  • increased risk of marital, occupational and economic difficulties, anxiety disorders, depression, alcoholism and antisocial behaviour (Kearney et al., 2019)
42
Q

barriers leading to EBSA often related to

not fine in school CIC

further reading

A
  • unmet SEND
  • physical or mental illness
  • bullying & assault
  • trauma
  • excessive academic pressure, overly strict behaviour policies
  • a missing sense of belonging
  • irrelevant curriculum

Educational psychology (9 decks)

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