Research finds link between inhibited children and refusal to attend school
A University of Queensland study has for the first time established a link between behaviourally inhibited pre-school-aged children, later separation anxiety and refusal to attend school.
The PhD study with the Fred and Eleanor Special Education Research Centre showed that the majority of behaviourally inhibited pre-school-aged children - those who were excessively timid, watchful, shy and "clingy" - were still anxious and unsettled in the school setting at the end of the first semester of Year One.
These children were at risk of separation anxiety and school refusal in the future.
Separation anxiety is the main factor involved in the estimated 1.7 percent of children who refuse to attend school.
The study's author, Dr Julia Murphy, said around three percent of Australian children were thought to be consistently behaviourally inhibited with refusal to attend school a growing problem for primary and secondary school staff.
"If untreated, separation anxiety and school refusal becomes a major problem for families with these children growing into socially isolated adults who may live and work very close to their parents their whole lives and may develop anxiety-related mental health problems such as panic disorder with agoraphobia," Dr Murphy said.
Her study suggests behaviourally inhibited children can be identified at pre-school age and treated before they develop later separation anxiety and school refusal.
"School refusal is a serious problem and can occur at several key ages including age five to seven, 11 to 12 or 13 to 14. In one Brisbane case, a primary school-aged child did not attend school for 18 months," she said.
"These children are terrified something will happen to their mothers if they are not with them at all times. They often sleep with their mothers, follow them constantly and in severe cases may even accompany them to the toilet and shower."
Supervised by the Centre's Director Professor Adrian Ashman, the research was made up of three studies.
These included interviews with 211 Year One children from 12 Brisbane State schools to establish baseline data, interviews with and ongoing monitoring of 25 behaviourally inhibited kindergarten and pre-school children and 25 controls and in-depth case studies with six adolescents who had been treated for school refusal at either the Child and Family Therapy Unit in Brisbane or the Caboolture Child and Youth Mental Health Service Clinic.
Dr Murphy is a liaison teacher for the Child and Family Therapy Unit at the Royal Children's Hospital and the Adolescent Mental Health Unit at the Royal Brisbane Hospital. One of her key roles is integrating children who have refused to go to school back into the school environment.
For more information, contact Dr Julia Murphy (telephone 07 3253 7458 at work and 07 3300 5820 at home).
