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School Refusal

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Pediatrician's Guide to Discussing Research with Patients

Abstract

School refusal behaviors manifest as children either refusing to go to school, struggling to remain in school (e.g., frequent visits to the nurse, skipping certain classes, leaving school early), or both. Some amount of school refusal behavior in children is common and expected. For example, school refusal behaviors regularly occur when children change schools, test their morning caregivers’ limits, or are experiencing normal parental separation anxiety. When school refusal persists past a developmentally typical time frame, treatment is indicated to avoid the short- and long-term consequences of chronic absenteeism. Early remediation is crucial, as adolescents experience more challenges with school refusal and experience less relief with treatment than their younger counterparts. This chapter corrects the errors in classifying school-refusing children as either highly anxious or truant. The stereotypes of children with “school phobia,” and overly attached children are also addressed. We present research findings regarding risk factors and treatment types to assist physicians’ discussions with parents concerned that their children’s school refusal is progressing from normative to clinical.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Child Study Center, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, New York, USA

    Christina A. Di Bartolo

  2. Department of Pediatrics, The Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, New York, USA

    Maureen K. Braun

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  1. Christina A. Di Bartolo
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Correspondence to Christina A. Di Bartolo .

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Di Bartolo, C.A., Braun, M.K. (2017). School Refusal. In: Pediatrician's Guide to Discussing Research with Patients. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49547-7_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49547-7_13

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