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Chapter 3 - Emotional Disorders and Attendance at School

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 March 2022

By
Katie Finning  and
Bernadka Dubicka
Edited by
Katie Finning ,
Tamsin Ford  and
Darren A. Moore
Katie Finning
Affiliation:
University of Exeter
Tamsin Ford
Affiliation:
University of Exeter
Darren A. Moore
Affiliation:
University of Exeter
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Summary

Anxiety and depression (“emotional disorders”) are common mental health conditions in young people. A substantial body of research links emotional disorders with school attendance problems, dating at least as far back as the 1960s when the terms “school phobia” and “school refusal” were used to refer to young people who had difficulty attending due to emotional distress. Recent studies have shown that depression in particular is strongly associated with absenteeism, and that emotional disorders are most predictive of unauthorised absence compared to other types of absence. Emotional disorders may directly lead to absenteeism via symptoms such as insomnia, fatigue or avoidance of anxiety-provoking stimuli in the school environment. A range of other factors may also play a role including comorbidities with other health conditions, bullying, poor teacher–pupil relationships, poor academic attainment, and family adversity. Prevention and intervention serve to reduce the burden of emotional difficulties and improve academic outcomes. Early identification of difficulties and a collaborative team-based approach are recognised as key steps to supporting young people who are experiencing these difficulties, alongside the identification of individual needs, adopting a whole-school approach to mental health, and the provision of more specialised interventions where necessary.

Keywords

emotional disordersemotional difficultiesanxietydepressionsomatic symptomsmental health in schoolscollaborative approach
Type
Chapter
Information
Mental Health and Attendance at School , pp. 38 - 58
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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