School refusal is a serious problem that negatively affects academic performance, connection to school, and socioemotional well-being of students. Numerous scientific works have suggested that school refusal is associated with internalizing problems. However, it is necessary to determine how this condition may affect certain academic variables,…

School attendance is an ongoing concern for administrators, particularly in middle level and high school. Frequent absences affect student learning, test scores, and social development. Absenteeism is often the result of emotional disorders, such as anxiety or depression. Administrators who understand the causes of school refusal behavior and are…

A special unit for children failing to attend school addressed the needs of students with school phobia, psychosomatic symptoms, fantasies, difficulties with parents, problems with clothes and behavior, poor self-image, and gaps in knowledge. The program aimed for reintegration into ordinary schools. (CL)

Characteristic behaviors and personality features of school phobia (anxiety, willfulness, dependency, depression, and unrealistic self image) are described, and 10 steps in a school-based intervention approach are listed (including assessing the family constellation, preparing teachers for the student's return to school, and encouraging therapy…

Evidence from this study suggests that if the sample size is large and if economic barriers to treatment are not present, one finds that intelligence is distributed among school phobics as it is distributed in the general population. Implications for practice and research are discussed. (Author)

This article outlines the critical variables of school phobia in terms of several different theoretical explanations, makes comparisons where appropriate, and describes the treatment modes that have resulted from theory and research. (Author)

of the 1/3 to 2/3 of school phobic adolescents who had returned to school after treatment at the in-patient unit, 1/3 of the group were well-adjusted, 1/3 had limited functioning, and 1/3 were severely incapacitated by neurotic problems and interpersonal difficulties. This paper is the basis of a talk delivered, by invitation, at the Charles Burns…

The purpose of this study was to identify the common denominators in the background of adolescent high school students that could account for the presence of school phobia. (Author/RK)

Discusses diagnostic and functional classification, assessment, and treatment approaches for school refusal behavior. Diagnostic classification focuses on separation anxiety disorder, specific phobia, social phobia, depression, and truancy. Functional classification focuses on the maintaining consequences of the behavior, such as avoidance of…

Reviews aspects of school phobia, discusses ways in which school can, through early detection and use of special classes, assist in prevention of severe cases. (Author)

Describes one school's program to deal with school phobic students--those whose emotional problems are often centered on the school setting. Explains how such students formed and ran a peer support group to help each other cope with anxiety. (FL)

Contrary to the research hypothesis, higher levels of self-evaluation were not observed in a sample of school phobic children when these children were compared with a control group of disturbed, but nonphobic children who were also attending a psychiatric clinic. (WY)