Differentiation Between School Attendance Problems: Why and How?

School attendance problems (SAPs) are heterogeneous with respect to etiology and presentation. The long history of conceptualizing SAPs has led to a vast array of terms and definitions as well as different perspectives on the most helpful approach to classification. For educators, practitioners, researchers, and policymakers, this presents a challenge in understanding, assessing, and intervening with SAPs. This paper outlines evolution in the conceptualization of SAPs, focusing on two contemporary approaches to differentiating between them. One approach draws on the longstanding differentiation between SAP types labeled school refusal, truancy, and school withdrawal. A fourth type of SAP, labeled school exclusion, is also considered. The other approach focuses on the function of absenteeism, measured via the School Refusal Assessment Scale (SRAS). Anecdotal and scientific support for the SAP typology is presented, along with the benefits and shortcomings of the SRAS approach to differentiation. The paper offers suggestions for how to differentiate between SAPs and introduces the SNACK, a brief screening measure that permits differentiation by SAP type

Individually tailored internet-based cognitive behavior therapy for adolescents with anxiety disorders: A pilot effectiveness study

This is the first study of adolescents suffering from anxiety disorder in Sweden to receive individually tailored internet-based treatment within a child and adolescent psychiatric clinic. The primary aim of this effectiveness study was to examine the effects of tailored internet-based cognitive behaviour therapy for adolescents. 11 adolescents, aged 15-19 years, were allocated to treatment after assessment. Screening consisted of online questionnaires followed by a diagnostic face-to-face interview at the clinic. Treatment consisted of individually prescribed cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) text modules adapted for the age group. Therapist guidance was via an online platform along with telephone support and face-to-face sessions if needed. Statistically significant improvements were found on all dependent measures immediately following treatment for the 8 adolescents who completed treatment. The within-group effect size on the Beck Anxiety Inventory, the primary outcome measure, was d = 2.51 at post-treatment and 80 percent (4/5) adolescents no longer met DSM-IV criteria for their primary anxiety disorder as measured by the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM- IV: Child and Parent Versions. Based on the results from this pilot study the tentative conclusion might be that tailored internet delivered CBT could be useful for adolescents with anxiety disorders along with standard treatment delivered in child and adolescent psychiatric clinics

Improving school attendance by enhancing communication among stakeholders: establishment of the International Network for School Attendance (INSA)

The newly established International Network for School Attendance (INSA) works to promote school attendance, reduce absenteeism, and resolve school attendance problems (SAPs). Our motivation for establishing INSA stems from the knowledge that school attendance offers innumerable benefits to children and adolescents (hereafter referred to as youth) and that sub-optimal attendance holds many liabilities