School absenteeism for children exposed to maternal incarceration and other adversities

Date

2024

Authors

Bell, M.F.
Spittal, M.J.
Segal, L.
Dennison, S.
Kinner, S.A.
Dawe, S.
Preen, D.B.

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Journal article

Citation

Children and Youth Services Review, 2024; 166(108007):1-8

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Abstract

Regular school attendance is important for the development of academic and social skills, and engagement and active participation in education is predictive of a range of positive life outcomes. Conversely, children with school attendance problems are at increased risk of adverse outcomes. Although there is no single definition of problematic absenteeism in the literature, it generally refers to absence from school for an extended period and includes school refusal, school withdrawal, truancy, and school exclusions. In Australia, as in other jurisdictions, a threshold of 90% is used to define “regular” attendance, with anything less than 90% attendance considered to indicate school attendance problems. There are multiple reasons why children may be absent from school, including illness, emotional difficulties, transportation issues, reduced school engagement, parental attitudes, peer problems, and delinquency, and an arbitrary cut-off, such as 90% attendance, does not capture the differences in predictors or outcomes associated with absenteeism. Nevertheless, a threshold for categorising absenteeism as problematic is useful for identifying children requiring additional supports to increase their school attendance, regardless of the causes for their absenteeism

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Data source: supplementary material, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2024.108007

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Copyright 2024 The Authors. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Access Condition Notes: This is an open access article under the CC BY license.

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