Relationship between school refusal behavior and social functioning: a cluster analysis approach
Relationship between school refusal behavior and social functioning: a cluster analysis approach
Main Article Content
Abstract
On the basis of the heterogeneous casuistry that characterizes the students who refuse going to school, it is useful to have a classification of this population in homogeneous groups. For this, the aim of this study was, first, to identify by cluster analysis the profiles of school refusal behavior based on the functional model evaluated through the School Refusal Assessment Scale-Revised (SRAS-S). Secondly, it is intended to analyze if there are differences in social functioning scores according to the school refusal profiles identified. This study involved 1212 Spanish children between 8 and 11 years old (M=9.12, SD=1.05) who completed the SRAS-R to evaluate the school refusal behavior and the Child and Adolescent Social Adaptive Functioning Scale (CASAFS) to assess social functioning. Four profiles were identified: Non-school refusers, School refusers by mixed reinforcements, School refusers by tangible reinforcements and School refusers by negative reinforcements. The profile of Non-school refusers achieved the highest average scores in social functioning, while School refusers by mixed reinforcements group obtained the lowest average scores in social functioning. In general, the profiles found support the clusters identified in previous studies. The implications of social functioning on school refusal behavior are discussed.
References
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social factors and management of school attendance problems in the normal population.
Journal of Child Psychology Psychiatry, 34, 1187-1203. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-
7610.1993.tb01782.x
Bools, C., Foster, J., Brown, I., & Berg, I. (1990). The identification of psychiatric disorders in
children who fail to attend school: a cluster analysis of a non-clinical population.
Psychological Medicine, 20, 171-181. doi: 10.1017/S0033291700013350
Carroll, H.C.M. (2011). The peer relationships of primary school pupils with poor attendance
records. Educational Studies, 37(2), 197-206. doi: 10.1080/03055698.2010.510240
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ:
Erlbaum.
Crowe, L.M., Beauchamp, M.H., Catroppa, C., & Anderson, V. (2011). Social function assessment
tools for children and adolescents: A systematic review from 1988 to 2010. Clinical
Psychology Review, 5, 767-785. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2011.03.008
Egger, H.L., Costello, J., & Angold, A. (2003). School refusal and Psychiatric Disorders: a
community study. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry,
42(7), 797-807. doi: 10.1097/01.CHI.0000046865.56865.79
Elliott, J., & Place, M. (2019). Practitioner review: school refusal developments in
conceptualisation and treatment since 2000. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry,
60(1), 4-15. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.12848
Fernández-Zabala, A., Goñi, E., Camino, I., & Zulaika, L.M. (2016). Family and school context in
school engagement. European Journal of Education and Psychology, 9(2), 47-55.
doi: 10.1016/j.ejeps.2015.09.001
Furguerle, J., & Graterol, C.T. (2010). Habilidades sociales para el fortalecimiento del trabajo en
equipo en las organizaciones educativas [Social skills for strengthening teamwork in
educational organizations]. Revista electrónica UVM, 4(2), 216-228.
Geum-Woon, K. (2010). A validation study of the School Refusal Assessment Scale for Korean
adolescents. Korean Journal of Play Therapy, 13(3), 121-139.
Gómez-Núñez, M.I., García-Fernández, J.M., Vicent, M., Sanmartín, R., Gonzálvez, C.,
Aparisi-Sierra, D., & Inglés, C.J. (2017). Influencia del rechazo escolar sobre la alta
ansiedad ante el castigo escolar en educación primaria. European Journal of Education
and Psychology, 10(2), 68-74. doi: 10.1016/j.ejeps.2017.08.001
Gonzálvez, C., Inglés, C.J., Fernández-Sogorb, A., Sanmartín, R., Vicent, M., & GarcíaFernández, J. M. (2018c). Profiles derived from the School Refusal Assessment ScaleRevised and its relationship to anxiety. Educational Psychology, 1-14.
doi: 10.1080/01443410.2018.1530734
Gonzálvez, C., Inglés, C.J., Kearney, C. A., Vicent, M., Sanmartín, R., & García-Fernández, J.M.
(2016). School Refusal Assessment Scale-Revised: factorial invariance and latent means
differences across gender and age in Spanish children. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1-10.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.02011
Gonzálvez, C., Inglés, C.J., Sanmartín, R., Vicent, M., Calderón, C.M., & García-Fernández, J.M.
(2018a). Testing factorial invariance and latent means differences of the school refusal
assessment scale-revised in Ecuadorian adolescents. Current Psychology.
doi: 10.1007/s12144-018-9871-1
Gonzálvez, C., Inglés, C.J., Sanmartín, R., Vicent, M., Fernández-Sogorb, A., & GarcíaFernández, J. M. (2018b). A cluster analysis of school refusal behavior: identification of
profiles and risk for school anxiety. International Journal of Educational Research, 90,
43-49. doi: 10.1016/j.ijer.2018.05.006
Gonzálvez, C., Kearney, C.A., Jiménez-Ayala, C.E., Sanmartín, R., Vicent, M., Inglés, C.J., &
García-Fernández, J.M. (2018d). Functional profiles of school Refusal behavior and their
relationship with depression, anxiety and stress. Psychiatry Research, 269, 140-144.
doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2018.08.069
Gonzálvez, C., Kearney, C.A., Lagos-San Martín, N., Sanmartín, R., Vicent, M., Inglés, C.J., &
García-Fernández, J.M. (2017). School Refusal Assessment Scale-Revised Chilean
version: factorial invariance and latent means differences across gender and age. Journal
of Psychoeducational Assessment, 36(8), 835-843. doi: 10.1177/0734282917712173
Gutiérrez, M., Escartí, A., & Pascual, C. (2011). Relaciones entre empatía, conducta prosocial,
agresividad, autoeficacia y responsabilidad personal y social de los escolares
[Relationships between empathy, prosocial behavior, aggressiveness, self-efficacy and
personal and social responsibility of school children]. Psicothema, 23(1), 13-19.
Havik, T., Bru, E., & Ertesvag, S.K. (2014). Parental perspectives of the role of school factors in
school refusal. Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, 19(2) 131-153.
doi: 10.1080/13632752.2013.816199
Havik, T., Bru, E., & Ertesvag, S. K. (2015). School factors associated with school refusal and
truancy related reasons for school non-attendance. Social Psychology of Education, 18(2),
221-240. doi: 10.1007/s11218-015-9293-y
Heyne, D., Gren-Landell, M., Melvin, G., & Gentle-Genity, C. (2019). Differentiation between
school attendance problems: why and how? Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 26(1),
8-34. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpra.2018.03.006
Heyne, D., Vreeke, L.J., Maric, M., Boelens, D., & van Widenfelt, B.M. (2017). Functional
assessment of school attendance problems: An adapted version of the School Refusal
Assessment Scale-Revised. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 25(3), 178-
192. doi: 10.1177/1063426616661701
Higa, C.K., Daleiden, E.L., & Chorpita, B.F. (2002). Psychometric properties and clinical utility of
the School Refusal Assessment Scale in a multiethnic sample. Journal of Psychopathology
and Behavioral Assessment, 24(4), 247-258. doi: 10.1023/A:1020727016113
Inglés, C.J., Gonzálvez, C., García-Fernández, J.M., Vicent, M., & Martínez-Monteagudo, M.C.
(2015). Current status of research on school refusal. European Journal of Education and
Psychology, 8(1), 37-52. doi: 10.1016/j.ejeps.2015.10.005
Kearney, C.A. (2002). Identifying the function of school refusal behavior: a revision of the School
Refusal Assessment Scale. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 24(4),
235-245. doi: 10.1023/A:1020774932043
Kearney, C.A., & Albano, A. (2004). The functional profiles of school refusal behavior:
Diagnostic aspects. Behavior Modification, 28(1), 147-161.
doi: 10.1177/01454455033259263
Kearney, C.A., Lemos, A., & Silverman, J. (2004). The functional assessment of school refusal
behavior. The Behavior Analyst Today, 5(3), 275-283.
Kearney, C.A., & Silverman, W.K. (1990). A preliminary analysis of a functional model of
assessment and treatment for school refusal behavior. Behavior Modification, 14, 340-366.
Kearney, C.A., & Silverman, W.K. (1993). Measuring the function of school refusal behavior: the
School Refusal Assessment Scale. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 22(1), 85-96.
doi: 10.1207/s15374424jccp2201_9
Keppens, G., & Spruyt, B. (2016). Towards a typology of occasional truancy: an operationalisation
study of occasional truancy in secondary education in Flanders. Research Papers in
Education, 32(1), 121-135. doi: 10.1080/02671522.2015.1136833
Maynard, B.R., Salas-Wright, C.P., Vaughn, M.G., & Peters, K.E. (2012). Who are truant youth?
Examining distinctive profiles of truant youth using latent profile analysis. Journal of
Youth Adolescence, 41, 1671-1684. doi: 10.1007/s10964-012-9788-1
Overmeyer, S., Schmidt, M.H., & Blanz, B. (1994). Die Einschät-zungsskala der
Schulverweigerung (ESV): Modifizierte deutsche Fassung der School Refusal Assessment
Scale (SRAS) nach C.A. Kearney und W.K. Silverman (1993) [The School Refusal
Assessment Scale (SRAS): Modified German version of the SRAS by C.A. Kearney and
W.K. Silverman (1993)]. Kindheit und Entwicklung, 3, 238-243.
Price, C.S., Spence, S.H., Sheffield, J., & Donovan, C. (2002). The development and psychometric
properties of a measure of social and adaptive functioning for children and adolescents.
Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 31(1), 111-122.
doi: 10.1207/153744202753441729
Richards, H.J., & Hadwin, J.A. (2011). An exploration of the relationship between trait anxiety
and school attendance in young people. School Mental Health, 3(4), 236-244.
doi: 10.1007/s12310-011-9054-9
Rigante, L., & Patrizi, C. (2007). Il rifiuto scolare [The school refusal]. Cognitivismo Clínico, 4,
124–138.
Seçer, I. (2014). The adaptation of School Refusal Assessment Scale into Turkish: Reliability and
Validity studies. Pakistan Journal of Statistics, 30(6), 1197-1202.
Shilvock, G.G. (2010). Investigating the factors associated with emotionally-based non-attendance
at school from young people’s perspective. Birmingham: The University of Birmingham.
Talwar, V., Lavoie, J., Gomez-Garibello, C., & Crossman, A.M. (2017). Influence of social factors
on the relation between lie-telling and children’s cognitive abilities. Journal of
Experimental Child Psychology, 159, 185-198. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.201.02.009
Vicent, M., Inglés, C.J., Sanmartín, R., Gonzálvez, C., Granados, & García-Fernández, J.M.
(2017). Perfeccionismo socialmente prescrito y afectividad en población infantil española
[Socially prescribed perfectionism and affect in Spanish children population]. European
Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, 7(1), 17-29.
doi: 10.1989/ejihpe.v7i1.192
Walter, D., Bialy, J.V., Wirth, E.V., & Doepfner, M. (2017). Psychometric Properties of the
German School Refusal Assessment Scale-Revised. Journal of Psychoeducational
Assessment, 36(6), 644-648. doi: 10.1177/0734282916689641
School Psychology International, 25(1), 117-126. doi: 10.1177/0143034304036299
Berg, I., Butler, A., Franklin, J., Hayes, H., Lucas, C., & Sims R (1993). DSM-III-R Disorders,
social factors and management of school attendance problems in the normal population.
Journal of Child Psychology Psychiatry, 34, 1187-1203. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-
7610.1993.tb01782.x
Bools, C., Foster, J., Brown, I., & Berg, I. (1990). The identification of psychiatric disorders in
children who fail to attend school: a cluster analysis of a non-clinical population.
Psychological Medicine, 20, 171-181. doi: 10.1017/S0033291700013350
Carroll, H.C.M. (2011). The peer relationships of primary school pupils with poor attendance
records. Educational Studies, 37(2), 197-206. doi: 10.1080/03055698.2010.510240
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ:
Erlbaum.
Crowe, L.M., Beauchamp, M.H., Catroppa, C., & Anderson, V. (2011). Social function assessment
tools for children and adolescents: A systematic review from 1988 to 2010. Clinical
Psychology Review, 5, 767-785. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2011.03.008
Egger, H.L., Costello, J., & Angold, A. (2003). School refusal and Psychiatric Disorders: a
community study. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry,
42(7), 797-807. doi: 10.1097/01.CHI.0000046865.56865.79
Elliott, J., & Place, M. (2019). Practitioner review: school refusal developments in
conceptualisation and treatment since 2000. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry,
60(1), 4-15. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.12848
Fernández-Zabala, A., Goñi, E., Camino, I., & Zulaika, L.M. (2016). Family and school context in
school engagement. European Journal of Education and Psychology, 9(2), 47-55.
doi: 10.1016/j.ejeps.2015.09.001
Furguerle, J., & Graterol, C.T. (2010). Habilidades sociales para el fortalecimiento del trabajo en
equipo en las organizaciones educativas [Social skills for strengthening teamwork in
educational organizations]. Revista electrónica UVM, 4(2), 216-228.
Geum-Woon, K. (2010). A validation study of the School Refusal Assessment Scale for Korean
adolescents. Korean Journal of Play Therapy, 13(3), 121-139.
Gómez-Núñez, M.I., García-Fernández, J.M., Vicent, M., Sanmartín, R., Gonzálvez, C.,
Aparisi-Sierra, D., & Inglés, C.J. (2017). Influencia del rechazo escolar sobre la alta
ansiedad ante el castigo escolar en educación primaria. European Journal of Education
and Psychology, 10(2), 68-74. doi: 10.1016/j.ejeps.2017.08.001
Gonzálvez, C., Inglés, C.J., Fernández-Sogorb, A., Sanmartín, R., Vicent, M., & GarcíaFernández, J. M. (2018c). Profiles derived from the School Refusal Assessment ScaleRevised and its relationship to anxiety. Educational Psychology, 1-14.
doi: 10.1080/01443410.2018.1530734
Gonzálvez, C., Inglés, C.J., Kearney, C. A., Vicent, M., Sanmartín, R., & García-Fernández, J.M.
(2016). School Refusal Assessment Scale-Revised: factorial invariance and latent means
differences across gender and age in Spanish children. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1-10.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.02011
Gonzálvez, C., Inglés, C.J., Sanmartín, R., Vicent, M., Calderón, C.M., & García-Fernández, J.M.
(2018a). Testing factorial invariance and latent means differences of the school refusal
assessment scale-revised in Ecuadorian adolescents. Current Psychology.
doi: 10.1007/s12144-018-9871-1
Gonzálvez, C., Inglés, C.J., Sanmartín, R., Vicent, M., Fernández-Sogorb, A., & GarcíaFernández, J. M. (2018b). A cluster analysis of school refusal behavior: identification of
profiles and risk for school anxiety. International Journal of Educational Research, 90,
43-49. doi: 10.1016/j.ijer.2018.05.006
Gonzálvez, C., Kearney, C.A., Jiménez-Ayala, C.E., Sanmartín, R., Vicent, M., Inglés, C.J., &
García-Fernández, J.M. (2018d). Functional profiles of school Refusal behavior and their
relationship with depression, anxiety and stress. Psychiatry Research, 269, 140-144.
doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2018.08.069
Gonzálvez, C., Kearney, C.A., Lagos-San Martín, N., Sanmartín, R., Vicent, M., Inglés, C.J., &
García-Fernández, J.M. (2017). School Refusal Assessment Scale-Revised Chilean
version: factorial invariance and latent means differences across gender and age. Journal
of Psychoeducational Assessment, 36(8), 835-843. doi: 10.1177/0734282917712173
Gutiérrez, M., Escartí, A., & Pascual, C. (2011). Relaciones entre empatía, conducta prosocial,
agresividad, autoeficacia y responsabilidad personal y social de los escolares
[Relationships between empathy, prosocial behavior, aggressiveness, self-efficacy and
personal and social responsibility of school children]. Psicothema, 23(1), 13-19.
Havik, T., Bru, E., & Ertesvag, S.K. (2014). Parental perspectives of the role of school factors in
school refusal. Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, 19(2) 131-153.
doi: 10.1080/13632752.2013.816199
Havik, T., Bru, E., & Ertesvag, S. K. (2015). School factors associated with school refusal and
truancy related reasons for school non-attendance. Social Psychology of Education, 18(2),
221-240. doi: 10.1007/s11218-015-9293-y
Heyne, D., Gren-Landell, M., Melvin, G., & Gentle-Genity, C. (2019). Differentiation between
school attendance problems: why and how? Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 26(1),
8-34. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpra.2018.03.006
Heyne, D., Vreeke, L.J., Maric, M., Boelens, D., & van Widenfelt, B.M. (2017). Functional
assessment of school attendance problems: An adapted version of the School Refusal
Assessment Scale-Revised. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 25(3), 178-
192. doi: 10.1177/1063426616661701
Higa, C.K., Daleiden, E.L., & Chorpita, B.F. (2002). Psychometric properties and clinical utility of
the School Refusal Assessment Scale in a multiethnic sample. Journal of Psychopathology
and Behavioral Assessment, 24(4), 247-258. doi: 10.1023/A:1020727016113
Inglés, C.J., Gonzálvez, C., García-Fernández, J.M., Vicent, M., & Martínez-Monteagudo, M.C.
(2015). Current status of research on school refusal. European Journal of Education and
Psychology, 8(1), 37-52. doi: 10.1016/j.ejeps.2015.10.005
Kearney, C.A. (2002). Identifying the function of school refusal behavior: a revision of the School
Refusal Assessment Scale. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 24(4),
235-245. doi: 10.1023/A:1020774932043
Kearney, C.A., & Albano, A. (2004). The functional profiles of school refusal behavior:
Diagnostic aspects. Behavior Modification, 28(1), 147-161.
doi: 10.1177/01454455033259263
Kearney, C.A., Lemos, A., & Silverman, J. (2004). The functional assessment of school refusal
behavior. The Behavior Analyst Today, 5(3), 275-283.
Kearney, C.A., & Silverman, W.K. (1990). A preliminary analysis of a functional model of
assessment and treatment for school refusal behavior. Behavior Modification, 14, 340-366.
Kearney, C.A., & Silverman, W.K. (1993). Measuring the function of school refusal behavior: the
School Refusal Assessment Scale. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 22(1), 85-96.
doi: 10.1207/s15374424jccp2201_9
Keppens, G., & Spruyt, B. (2016). Towards a typology of occasional truancy: an operationalisation
study of occasional truancy in secondary education in Flanders. Research Papers in
Education, 32(1), 121-135. doi: 10.1080/02671522.2015.1136833
Maynard, B.R., Salas-Wright, C.P., Vaughn, M.G., & Peters, K.E. (2012). Who are truant youth?
Examining distinctive profiles of truant youth using latent profile analysis. Journal of
Youth Adolescence, 41, 1671-1684. doi: 10.1007/s10964-012-9788-1
Overmeyer, S., Schmidt, M.H., & Blanz, B. (1994). Die Einschät-zungsskala der
Schulverweigerung (ESV): Modifizierte deutsche Fassung der School Refusal Assessment
Scale (SRAS) nach C.A. Kearney und W.K. Silverman (1993) [The School Refusal
Assessment Scale (SRAS): Modified German version of the SRAS by C.A. Kearney and
W.K. Silverman (1993)]. Kindheit und Entwicklung, 3, 238-243.
Price, C.S., Spence, S.H., Sheffield, J., & Donovan, C. (2002). The development and psychometric
properties of a measure of social and adaptive functioning for children and adolescents.
Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 31(1), 111-122.
doi: 10.1207/153744202753441729
Richards, H.J., & Hadwin, J.A. (2011). An exploration of the relationship between trait anxiety
and school attendance in young people. School Mental Health, 3(4), 236-244.
doi: 10.1007/s12310-011-9054-9
Rigante, L., & Patrizi, C. (2007). Il rifiuto scolare [The school refusal]. Cognitivismo Clínico, 4,
124–138.
Seçer, I. (2014). The adaptation of School Refusal Assessment Scale into Turkish: Reliability and
Validity studies. Pakistan Journal of Statistics, 30(6), 1197-1202.
Shilvock, G.G. (2010). Investigating the factors associated with emotionally-based non-attendance
at school from young people’s perspective. Birmingham: The University of Birmingham.
Talwar, V., Lavoie, J., Gomez-Garibello, C., & Crossman, A.M. (2017). Influence of social factors
on the relation between lie-telling and children’s cognitive abilities. Journal of
Experimental Child Psychology, 159, 185-198. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.201.02.009
Vicent, M., Inglés, C.J., Sanmartín, R., Gonzálvez, C., Granados, & García-Fernández, J.M.
(2017). Perfeccionismo socialmente prescrito y afectividad en población infantil española
[Socially prescribed perfectionism and affect in Spanish children population]. European
Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, 7(1), 17-29.
doi: 10.1989/ejihpe.v7i1.192
Walter, D., Bialy, J.V., Wirth, E.V., & Doepfner, M. (2017). Psychometric Properties of the
German School Refusal Assessment Scale-Revised. Journal of Psychoeducational
Assessment, 36(6), 644-648. doi: 10.1177/0734282916689641