The following multiple baseline case series examines school refusal behavior in 4 male adolescents. School refusal symptom presentation was ascertained utilizing a functional analysis from the School Refusal Assessment Scale (Kearney, 2002). For the majority of cases, treatment was conducted within a 15-session intensive format over a 3-week…

School refusal behavior can lead to disruptions in both educational attainment and social development. One of the common causes of school refusal behavior is separation anxiety disorder (SAD). Research suggests that children with SAD and school refusal behavior show an increased rate of psychiatric consultation and a decreased likelihood of…

School phobia affects about 5% of the school-age population. If left untreated, school phobia can have devastating long-term consequences in children challenged by this condition. Various treatment approaches have been used to explore this complex behavioural response, major among them being the psychoanalytic, psychodynamic, pharmacological and…

Presents a critical review of the studies that have applied behavioral techniques in the treatment of school phobia. Notes the conspicuous absences of any studies designed to assess either the relative efficacy of behavior therapy in comparison to other types of therapy or the different effects of various behavioral treatments. (JAC)

A two-stage intervention successfully eliminated a 9-year-old boy's intensive fear in a new school setting. First, the child learned to identify a cue accompanying strong anxiety response; second, he learned to induce a competing cognitive coping response--blocking negative feelings with confidence--reinforcing song lyrics. Author/CMG)

This case is about a 6-year-old boy, Bobby, who during an apparently successful kindergarten year suddenly began to have great difficulty attending school. The boy had a definite aversion to school unless at least one of his parents was present and even then he had much trepidation over entering his kindergarten classroom. The situation had both…

Cognitive behavioral psychology is a new theoretical orientation and when applied in treatment it is known as cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). Theoretically CBT seeks primarily to change cognitions to alter behaviors and to modify cognitions to affect emotions. In general CBT is considered to be an information processing psychology because it…

This paper describes the behavioral treatment of acute onset school refusal in a 5-year old girl with Separation Anxiety Disorder (SAD). A functional classification was used to select a treatment approach that involved the parent and teacher using shaping, positive reinforcement and extinction. Results showed that by the end of the fifth week of…

School refusal behavior is defined as any child-motivated refusal to attend classes and/or difficulty remaining in classes for an entire day. Although many researchers have focused on older children and adolescents in their samples, few have specifically focused on young children aged 5-9 years (i.e., kindergarten to third grade). In this article,…

This case study illustrates how behavioral consultation can be integrated by the school psychologist using a modification and expansion of Kennedy's "rapid treatment procedure" in eliminating school phobia. The importance of including teachers, parents, and administrators as consultees and participants in the decision-making process is…

This paper presents a case study of successful intervention with a boy (in fourth grade at the time of the intervention) who would not speak in the school environment. Intervention involved medication with Fluoxetine to relieve anxiety, parental involvement, and a six-step behavioral therapy plan of gradually increasing speech demands in the…

This literature review focuses on behavioral intervention strategies for the reduction of school-related fears and anxieties. Major behavior therapy procedures are discussed: systematic desensitization and its variations, modeling, self-control, and cognitive behavioral approaches. General research trends in fear and anxiety reduction are also…

Explores fears and phobias of childhood from a behavioral perspective. Maintains that many childhood fears are mild, age-specific, and transitory, whereas others persist beyond normal developmental limits. Maintains that severe school phobia is difficult to manage. Notes that reports of successful behavioral treatments of fears/phobias are rare in…