Practitioner Review: School Refusal: Issues of Conceptualisation, Assessment, and Treatment

Developments in the assessment and treatment of school refusal have often been hampered by a failure to recognise its essentially heterogeneous nature. This paper provides a review of major conceptual complexities that have helped to undermine developments in clinical practice. In particular, it con...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of child psychology and psychiatry 1999-10, Vol.40 (7), p.1001-1012
Main Author: Elliott, Julian G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anxiety
behaviour therapy
Biological and medical sciences
fears
Medical sciences
Miscellaneous
phobias
Practitioner Review
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
school attendance
school refusal
Treatments
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Summary:Developments in the assessment and treatment of school refusal have often been hampered by a failure to recognise its essentially heterogeneous nature. This paper provides a review of major conceptual complexities that have helped to undermine developments in clinical practice. In particular, it considers the distinction between school refusal and truancy, and school phobia and separation anxiety. Common approaches to the assessment and treatment of school refusal are outlined. Although behavioural and cognitive behavioural approaches are now widely accepted as central to treatment, it is increasingly recognised that individually tailored programmes, utilising a range of approaches, are most likely to prove successful. An approach focusing upon the functions, rather than the symptoms, of school refusal is advocated as having most promise for assessment and the subsequent formulation of individual prescriptive treatment.
ISSN:0021-9630
1469-7610
DOI:10.1111/1469-7610.00519