Conflict, cohesion, and accommodation: the impact of caregiver responses to youth who refuse school
Description
TitleConflict, cohesion, and accommodation: the impact of caregiver responses to youth who refuse school
Date Created2022
Other Date2022-08 (degree)
Extent87 pages : illustrations
DescriptionSchool refusal (SR) is a pattern of difficulty attending school that can disrupt critical domains of a child’s development and can lead to short- and long-term adverse psychosocial outcomes. Although substantial evidence supports the relationship between SR and anxiety and mood disorders in youth, preliminary research suggests that other factors, such as family processes, may be stronger predictors of SR than clinical symptomology. Despite growing evidence that family factors may play a role in SR behaviors, few studies have examined both psychological and family processes in an integrated model. Additionally, no study to date has investigated the moderating impact of diagnostic profile. Therefore, the current study will 1) compare SR severity in youth across diagnostic profiles (non-clinical, anxiety-only, diagnostically complex), 2) investigate the association between family processes (family accommodation, conflict, and cohesion) and SR, and 3) examine whether diagnostic profile moderates the relationship between family processes and SR. Participants were 159 youth (ages 9-17 years) across “clinical” (n = 117) and “non-clinical” (n = 42) samples. ANCOVA, using Bonferroni-corrected pairwise comparisons, hierarchical linear regressions, and generalized linear regressions were analyzed to assess the study’s specific aims. There were significant differences in SR severity across diagnostic profiles, such that the non-clinical group exhibited the lowest SR severity, and the diagnostically complex group exhibited the greatest SR severity. Furthermore, there were significant associations between family accommodation and cohesion and SR severity, but not family conflict. Specifically, youth with greater family accommodation and lower family cohesion were related to greater SR severity. Contrary to expectations, diagnostic profile did not moderate the relationship between family processes and SR severity. However, diagnostic profile, specifically the diagnostically complex group, emerged as a robust predictor of SR severity across all moderation models. These results suggest that diagnostic profile, specifically diagnostic complexity, may be an important predictor of SR behaviors in youth, above and beyond family processes. Findings also highlight the value of examining psychosocial and psychological risk factors for SR in a comprehensive model to investigate the collective impact of these variables on youth SR. Implications of these findings for clinical practice and future research are discussed.
NotePsy.D.
NoteIncludes bibliographical references
Genretheses
LanguageEnglish
CollectionGraduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Organization NameRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
RightsThe author owns the copyright to this work.
Statistical Profile