Absence from School and Mental Health
Abstract
Severe school attendance problems, which once commanded a great deal of attention in child and adolescent psychiatry, have fallen from favour and are increasingly viewed as varieties of social impairment which may accompany disorders such as anxiety disturbances in the case of school refusal and conduct disturbances in the case of truancy. It is argued that this relegation of school attendance difficulties may have gone too far. As presenting complaints, albeit sometimes masked by apparent physical illness, they still have much to recommend them as indicators of a wide variety of present and future problems: educational, social, family, legal, medical, and, last but not least, psychiatric. Prevalence, features, causative factors, outcome, and management are discussed. Particular attention is paid to DSM and ICD classification. Gaps in present knowledge are indicated.
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School attendance difficulties are signs of a wide range of current and future issues among young people.
“School attendance difficulties are signs of a wide range of current and future issues among young people”
From “So That You Can Feel Well”: Perspectives of Students with Social, Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties on Factors that Support School Attendance (2025) · cites this paper as Berg, 1992
Cites
School phobia: Its classification and relationship to dependency
Berg, I., Nichols, K., & Pritchard, C. (1969) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.1969.tb02074.x · Cited by 193 · see citing works
Self-citationSchool phobia: the overlap of affective and anxiety disorders
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Self-citationSchool refusal: A comprehensive view of school phobia and other failures of school attendance
Kahn, J. H., & Nursten, J. P. (1962) · American Journal of Orthopsychiatry · doi:10.1111/j.1939-0025.1962.tb00320.x · Cited by 91 · see citing works
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School Refusal and Psychiatric Disorders: A Community Study
Egger, H. L., Costello, J. E., & Angold, A. (2003) · Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1097/01.chi.0000046865.56865.79 · Cited by 596 · see citing works
Differentiation between school attendance problems: why and how?
Heyne, D., Gren-Landell, M., Melvin, G., & Gentle-Genitty, C. (2019) · Cognitive and Behavioral Practice · doi:10.1016/j.cbpra.2018.03.006 · Cited by 339 · see citing works
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An exploration of the relationship between trait anxiety and school attendance in young people
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“School attendance difficulties are signs of a wide range of current and future issues among young people (Berg, 1992; Walther-Hansen et al., 2024).”
- Authors
- Berg, I.
- Affiliations
- Leeds General Infirmary (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Berg, Ian
- ORCID
- Berg, Ian
- Venue
- British Journal of Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Royal College of Psychiatrists
- Published
- 1992-08
- Volume
- 161
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 154-166
- ISSN
- 0007-1250 (ISSN-L)
- 1472-1465
- OpenAlex
- W2139605626
- Cited by
- 148
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 6.38
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The British Journal of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Youth Substance Use and School Attendance
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Speech and Hearing › School Health and Nursing Education
- Keywords
- school absenteeism, school refusal, truancy, child and adolescent mental health, social dysfunction, anxiety disorders, conduct disorder, DSM classification, ICD classification, prevalence, causal factors, outcomes
- MeSH terms
- Absenteeism, Adolescent, Anxiety Disorders, Mental Disorders, Child, Child Behavior Disorders, Depressive Disorder, Humans, Juvenile Delinquency, Phobic Disorders, Sick Role, Social Environment
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