ABSTRACT
Absenteeism from school in
children and adolescents is a problem that impacts the social, emotional and
educational development of the children (Haarman, 2011). While absenteeism can
be seen as a short-term condition, prolonged absenteeism during childhood may
be a predictor of lasting issues that may persist into adulthood (King,
Ollendick and Tonge, 1995), such as “school dropout, delinquency and
occupational and relationship problems” (Kearney and Bensaheb, 2006), and economic deprivation and
social, marital, occupational and psychiatric problems (Kearney and Graczyk,
2014). Early absenteeism has been associated with school dropout, further disconnecting the children from school
based health programs and leading the children into economic deprivation, and
marital, social and psychiatric problems in adulthood (Kogan, Luo, Murry and
Brody, 2005). Furthermore, absenteeism may be an indication of “suicide
attempt, perilous sexual behaviour, teenage pregnancy, violence, unintentional
injury, driving under the influence of alcohol, and alcohol, marijuana,
tobacco, and other substance abuse” (Kearney, 2008). The purpose of this
article is to provide a review of the literature on protective and risk factors
for school absenteeism in youths aged 5 to 18 years old, with focus on articles
published after 2004. First, the definition of absenteeism will be discussed,
followed by the prevalence and demographic of this phenomenon, the protective
and risk factors of school absenteeism, and a review of intervention
strategies.