Factors Contributing to School Refusal among School Children

Abstract

School refusal is critical problem for students' academic success. For some students, going to school is their biggest fear, which has become a growing concern over the years, not only for parents, but school personnel as well. The present study was aimed to find out the prevalence and causes of school refusal among school children. 120 students of grade 7 and 8 and their parents were taken as sample from the Sadiq Memorial and District Public School, Kasur through simple random sampling. School refusal assessment scale revised (SRAS-R) was used to evaluate the functional conditions of school refusal. Data was analyzed through frequency, percentage tables, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and independent sample t- test. The results indicated that boys experienced more refusal than boys. Major cause of school refusal was found to be more due to pursue attention from significant others. It is recommended that further research should be conducted to see the factors contributing to school refusal among school children.

Predicting Relationship Between Anxiety and School Avoidance in Children and Adolescents with and Without Learning Disabilities in Educational Setups in Pakistan: A Comparative Study

“…Referring to the Pakistani scenario, despite of the scarcity of research done in this area, the available sources suggest internalizing disorders such as anxiety and depression to be mostly prevalent in 50% urban population (Ali et al, 2002;Niaz et al, 2004) which is comparatively higher than other underdeveloped countries worldwide. While exploring the link between anxiety and school related fears, Mahmood (2018) in a research reported 26.7% children to be displaying associated school avoidant behavior. This lack of motivation to attend school appeared to be linked with several causes including anxiety.…”

“…Among these approximately 15 to 35 million are adults along with 20 million children. Additionally, research reports 26.7% children to be displaying school avoidant behavior (Mahmood, 2018). These statistics provide compelling evidence to conduct the current study and to identify the risk factors or any possible relationship that anxiety may have with school refusal behavior in students with learning disabilities.…”