Adolescent school absenteeism and service use in a population-based study

BMC Public Health

Research Article

Kristin Gärtner Askeland¹  Siren Haugland²  Kjell Morten Stormark²  Mari Hysing²  Tormod Bøe² 

[1] Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Division of Mental Health, Department of Public Mental Health, Bergen, Norway;Regional Centre for Child and Youth Mental Health and Child Welfare, Uni Research Health, Bergen, Norway;Regional Centre for Child and Youth Mental Health and Child Welfare, Uni Research Health, Bergen, Norway;

关键词: Adolescence;    School absence;    Service use;    Truancy;    School refusal;    Youth@hordaland;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-015-1978-9

 received in 2014-11-27, accepted in 2015-06-26,  发布年份 2015

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundSchool absenteeism is linked to a range of health concerns, health risk behaviors and school dropout. It is therefore important to evaluate the extent to which adolescents with absenteeism are in contact with health care and other services. The aim of the current study was to investigate service use of Norwegian adolescents with moderate and high absenteeism in comparison to students with lower rates of absence.MethodsThe study employs data from a population-based study from 2012 targeting all pupils in upper secondary education in Hordaland County, Norway (the youth@hordaland-survey). A total of 8988 adolescents between the ages of 16 and 18 were included in the present study. Information on service use was based on adolescent self-report data collected in the youth@hordaland-survey. Absence data was collected using administrative data provided by the Hordaland County Council.ResultsHigh absence (defined as being absent 15 % or more the past semester) was found among 10.1 % of the adolescents. Compared to their peers with low absence (less than 3 % absence the past semester), adolescents with high absence were more likely to be in contact with all the services studied, including mental health services (odds ratio (OR) 3.96), adolescent health clinics (OR 2.11) and their general practitioner (GP) (OR 1.94). Frequency of contact was higher among adolescents with moderate and high absence and there seems to be a gradient of service use corresponding to the level of absence. Still, 40 % of the adolescents with high absence had not been in contact with any services.ConclusionsAdolescents with high absence had increased use of services, although a group of youth at risk seems to be without such contact. This finding suggests a potential to address school absenteeism through systematic collaboration between schools and health personnel.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Askeland et al. 2015