Gender and age differences on school refusal in a Chilean adolescents’ sample
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
The aim of this study was to analyze gender and age differences on school refusal in a Chilean adolescents’ sample. 2678 Middle School students, 1169 boys and 1509 girls, between 13 and 18 years old participated in our research. School refusal was assessed by the implementation of the School Refusal Assessment Scale-Revised for Children (SRAS-R-C), which measures the refusal to avoid school-based stimuli provoking negative affectivity (Factor I), escape from aversive social and/or evaluative situations (Factor II), attention seeking from significant people
(Factor III), and pursue of tangible rewards outside of school (Factor IV). Results derived from analysis of variance revealed that the girls scored notably higher than the boys in factor I, while the boys scored notably higher than the girls in factors II and IV. Additionally, age differences were found for the four factors that integrate school refusal.