What is school refusal?

 

The Department of Education (2016) identified school absenteeism as an educational crisis as 6 million students missed 15 days or more of school in the 2013-2014 academic year. School absenteeism refers to any excused or unexcused absence from school among school-aged youth (Kearney, 2008). Most school absences are considered nonproblematic as they are temporary and do not negatively impact a student (Kearney, 2008). Problematic school absenteeism, on the other hand, can be troublesome for youth and their families. There is a lack of clarity on the precise definition of problematic school absenteeism due to the complexity of the construct, inconsistent and overlapping criteria, and the utilization of multiple overlapping cutoffs (e.g., 1%, 10%, 25%, etc.; Lyon & Cotler, 2007). 

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Current Projects:

 

The school refusal lab's current research is focused on addressing four gaps in the current school absenteeism literature base: (1) identifying specific cutoffs to define problematic school absenteeism, (2) pinpointing the most important risk factors to differentiate between nonproblematic and problematic school absenteeism, (3) predicting youth most at risk for problematic school absenteeism, and (4) informing evidence based assessment and treatment of those youth with problematic school absenteeism. Our lab works with multiple community partners including the Clark County School District (CCSD). 

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Treatment:

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Click here to visit our Clinic webpage

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Click here to visit our Treatment Resources webpage

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Selected Publications:

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Kearney, C. A., Childs, J., & Burke, S. (2022). Social forces, social justice, and school attendance problems in youth. Contemporary School Psychology, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40688-022-00425-5

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Bacon, V. R., & Kearney, C. A. (2020). School climate and student-based contextual learning factors as predictors of school absenteeism severity at multiple levels via CHAID analysis. Children and Youth Services Review, 118, 105452.

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Fornander, M. J., & Kearney, C. A. (2020). Internalizing symptoms as predictors of school absenteeism severity at multiple levels: Ensemble and classification and regression tree analysis. Frontiers in psychology, 10, 3079.

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Kearney, C. A., Gonzálvez, C., Graczyk, P. A., & Fornander, M. J. (2019). Reconciling contemporary approaches to school attendance and school absenteeism: toward promotion and nimble response, global policy review and implementation, and future adaptability (Part 1). Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2222.

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Kearney, C. A., Gonzálvez, C., Graczyk, P. A., & Fornander, M. J. (2019). Reconciling contemporary approaches to school attendance and school absenteeism: toward promotion and nimble response, global policy review and implementation, and future adaptability (Part 2). Frontiers in psychology, 10, 2605.

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Kearney, C.A., & Fornander, M.J. (2018). School refusal behavior and absenteeism. In R.J.R. Levesque (Ed.), Encyclopedia of adolescence (2nd ed.) (pp. 3298-3303). New York: Springer.    

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Skedgell, K., & Kearney, C. A. (2018). Predictors of school absenteeism severity at multiple levels: A classification and regression tree analysis. Children and Youth Services Review, 86, 236–245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.01.043

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Skedgell, K. K., & Kearney, C. A. (2016). Predictors of absenteeism severity in truant youth: A dimensional and categorical analysis. American Secondary Education, 45(1), 46-58. 

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