From a review of the literature, it is concluded that (i) each form of pupil absenteeism relates to a heterogeneous group of children; (ii) because of such heterogeneity, those who are involved in assessment and intervention in relation to pupil absenteeism are faced with a demanding task; (iii) as a consequence of their education and training,…

The purpose of this study was to test Manassis' proposal (Child-parent relations: Attachment and anxiety disorders, 255-272, 2001) that attachment patterns (secure, ambivalent, avoidant, and disorganized) may relate to different types of anxiety symptoms, and that behavioral inhibition may moderate these relations. Using a story stem interview to…

The current study aimed to investigate emotion regulation (ER) strategy use in a sample of 21 clinic-referred children and adolescents (10-14 years old) presenting with school refusal, all of whom were diagnosed with at least one anxiety disorder. Being the first known study to examine ER and school refusal, hypotheses were guided by previous…

This descriptive study examined the perceptions of a national sample of school psychologists in the United States regarding their perceived knowledge, preferred roles, and training needs in the prevention and treatment of nine prominent child and adolescent internalizing disorders. The results indicated that participants perceived the prevention…

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 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…

This article examines recent claims by Jeffrey Smith that: (1) "hegemonic masculinity" is an expression of working class counter-school culture; (2) some teachers are "cultural accomplices" in constructing "hegemonic masculinities" of anti-school working class boys, thereby contributing to their underachievement; and (3) these "cultural…

Far too much curriculum time in primary schools is overly regulated and assessment driven, with the result that many children attending them are either bored or made to feel anxious. The antidote to this tendency is for teachers to rediscover the value of deregulated ("wasted") curriculum time via a renewed commitment to the value of play,…

This study examined the perceptions of a national sample of school psychologists in the United States regarding their knowledge, preferred roles and training needs in the assessment of nine prominent childhood internalizing disorders. Knowledge about all disorders was rated by respondents as being at least fairly important. In particular,…

In this conceptual paper, based on teaching and TA experience, seven suggestions are made for improving the statistics experience of students in social science courses. These include hiring non-mathematicians to teach the course; emphasize conceptual statistics rather than computational approaches; recognize that many, or ever most, social science…

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. Administrators who understand the causes of school refusal behavior and are aware of effective intervention strategies can help provide supportive school…

The current article reviews the literature on school refusal behavior. Definitional inconsistencies, the effects of biased assessment processes, and the consequences of the lack of ethnic, racial, and economic diversity in school refusal research samples are highlighted. An increase in the use of low-income, ethnic minority, community samples in…

A review of the literature regarding school refusal was conducted. It was found that the term School Refusal Behavior has gone through many changes. These changes encompass nomenclature, etiology, and treatment. The names used to describe the behavior of school refusal have ranged from truancy in the 1930s to School Refusal Behavior in the 1990s.…

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…