School refusal behavior refers to child-motivated refusal to attend school and/or difficulty attending classes for an entire day (Kearney & Silverman, 1996). As such, the term represents an umbrella construct for many historical ones that have been used to describe youths with problematic absenteeism, including truancy, psychoneurotic truancy,…

A FIVE TO 10 YEAR FOLLOW-UP STUDY OF A GROUP OF 16 CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS ORIGINALLY HOSPITALIZED FOR A SCHOOL PHOBIC SYNDROME IS REPORTED. THE PRIMARY FOCUS WAS UPON 14 NEUROTIC CHILDREN. THE OTHER TWO CHILDREN WERE CLASSIFIED AS BORDERLINE PSYCHOTICS. AT THE TIME OF THE FOLLOW-UP, THE FOUR MALES AND 10 FEMALES RANGED IN AGE FROM 14 TO 23 WITH…

Test anxiety was surveyed among Maryland ninth graders in six schools in the spring of 1968. The schools differed in racial composition, social class of student body, and in rural-urban location. Test anxiety does not show differences by social class or racial groups when schools have comparable IQ distributions. The level of test anxiety seems…

The purpose of this pamphlet is to increase teachers' comprehension of anxiety and its relation to children's thinking and forgetting, to their problem solving ability and their sense of competence. The pamphlet describes four parts of the anxiety experience: 1) the anxiety cue, the particular thought, memory, or sensation which precipitates the…

The symptoms of school phobia were found to be student withdrawal, unwillingness of the student to leave the mother, being either the oldest child of the family or the last one left at home, and having an impulsive, violent, sadistic philandering father. Five adolescents are examined in detail and a proposal is made that adolescence is a time…

Investigated whether or not quantification of hierarchy stimuli in the systematic desensitization by skin conductance and peripheral pulse volume measures yielded improved results with respect to treatment length. (SB)

Describes the characteristics, epidemiology, treatment, and implications of school phobia. Treatment methods focus on psychodynamic, cognitive and behavioral approaches. (BL)

Describes school phobia and school refusal as two ends of a continuum from involuntary symptoms to willful refusal. A treatment case is reported to demonstrate the strategies of reestablishing the proper parent-child hierarchy, as well as the principles of effective case management. (JAC)

Non-attendance in school as an avoiding behavior is discussed with implications for counselor intervention. (BL)

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)

"School phobia" has generally referred to children and adolescents avoidant of school due to overwhelming fearfulness. This paper outlines the historical development of school phobia, including its transition from syndrome to symptom. Given the questionable validity of the construct, recommendations are made regarding future classification,…

Discusses ways to reduce children's fear and discomfort in the learning situation by accommodating the children's interests through cultural themes that represent emotions and anxieties preventing the organization of thought. (JPB)

The academically underprepared community college student may also be psychosocially underprepared for college, a condition contributing to the development of classroom-specific social phobia and to the high attrition rate at community colleges. The "Find Your Voice Program" uses individual and group cognitive-behavioral techniques to develop…

This document begins by providing a brief historical overview of past attempts at classification, assessment, and treatment of students with school refusal behaviors. Limitations of traditional classification strategies are explored. Recent accomplishments with this population are then discussed, including the development of the School Refusal…

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…