Prevalence and factors associated with chronic school absenteeism among 207,107 in-school adolescents: Findings from cross-sectional studies in 71 low-middle and high-income countries

Abstract

Background Despite the negative impact of chronic school absenteeism on the psychological and physical health of adolescents, data on the burden of adolescent chronic school absenteeism (ACSA) and interventions and programs to address it are lacking. We estimated the global, regional and national level prevalence of ACSA and its correlation with violence and unintentional injury, psychosocial, protective, lifestyle, and food security-related factors among in-school adolescents across low and middle-income, and high-income countries (LMICs–HICs). Objectives This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of chronic school absenteeism (CSA) as well as to determine its associated factors among in-school adolescents across 71 low-middle and high-income countries. Methods We used data from the most recent Global School-based Student Health Survey of 207,107 in-school adolescents aged 11–17 years in 71 LMICs-HICs countries across six WHO regions. We estimated the weighted prevalence of ACSA from national, regional and global perspectives. Multiple binary logistic regression analyses were used to estimate the adjusted effect of independent factors on ACSA. Results The overall population-weighted prevalence of CSA was 11·43% (95% confidence interval, CI: 11·29–11·57). Higher likelihood of CSA was associated with severe food insecurity, peer victimisation, loneliness, high level of anxiety, physically attack, physical fighting, serious injury, poor peer support, not having close friends, lack of parental support, being obese, and high levels of sedentary behaviours. Lower likelihood of CSA was associated with being female (odds ratio, OR = 0·76, 95% CI: 0·74–0·78). Conclusion Our findings indicate that a combination of different socio-economic factors, peer conflict and injury factors, factors exacerbate CSA among adolescents. Interventions should be designed to focus on these risk factors and should consider the diverse cultural and socioeconomic contexts.

School attendance problems and absenteeism as early warning signals: review and implications for health-based protocols and school-based practices

“…Social competence refers to effectiveness in social skills as well as the presence of adaptive interpersonal relationships (Persich and Robinson, 2022). Chronic school absenteeism has been linked to greater social isolation and peer victimization, less peer support and social engagement, and fewer friendships (Gottfried, 2014;Rahman et al, 2023). Children with SAPs also exhibit greater loneliness and negative affect than their school-attending peers (Jones and Suveg, 2015).…”

Caring Climate and Support, Mental Health, and Academic Adjustment: Effects from a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial in Upper Secondary Schools in Norway

“…Previous research has shown that being socially integrated and experiencing school belonging has several positive implications [6][7][8]31,35,37,38]; therefore, motivating the students to stay at school is important. Moreover, in light of the effects of COVID-19 and students' increased level of school absenteeism and refusal worldwide [54], it might be more important than ever to work systematically with building an inclusive and good psychosocial environment where students are motivated to stay. As implicated from the results in this study, there might be a need for working systematically with higher intensity at all grade levels to build a good psychosocial environment, and not merely in the first grade of upper secondary school.…”

The Evolution of Research on School Attendance: A Bibliometric Review of Scholarly Output

“…School attendance problems have long been recognized as a critical developmental challenge and limiting factor for children and adolescents (Kearney, 2021). A wide array of academic deficiencies, internalizing behavior problems such as anxiety, depression, social isolation, as well as externalizing behavior problems such as elevated alcohol, tobacco, and drug use have been connected to this problematic (Kearney et al, 2023;Rahman et al, 2023). School attendance problems are the main focus of interest shown by researchers in the field of Education.…”