A Study of Risk Factors Predicting School Disruption in Children and Youth Living in Ontario

Abstract

School disruption (SD) places students at risk of early school departure and other negative psychological outcomes. Based on the data derived from a sample of Ontario children and youth, this study aims to identify risk factors associated with SD among 1,241 school-aged students. A logistic regression model revealed that substance use, family functioning, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and experiencing bullying, significantly predicted SD. Substance use and family functioning resulted in the largest contributions to SD when holding other variables constant. This study provides supporting evidence of risk factors predicting SD and suggests that mental health and school personnel should consider family functioning and substance use in particular, when creating interventions to decrease premature school termination.

The IAFOR International Conference on Education – Hawaii 2023 Official Conference Proceedings

“…The teachers will have a much closer view and understanding of the students under their care than will the leadership or members of the mentoring program. The teachers should take note of students who they believe to be vulnerable to school disruption, which consists of interruptions in their relationships in school, the classroom environment, and the learning conditions (Sun et al, 2021). Identifying students vulnerable to school disruption is important as such disruption can prevent children from gaining the social, civic, and academic skills that school fosters (Sun et al, 2021).…”

“…The teachers should take note of students who they believe to be vulnerable to school disruption, which consists of interruptions in their relationships in school, the classroom environment, and the learning conditions (Sun et al, 2021). Identifying students vulnerable to school disruption is important as such disruption can prevent children from gaining the social, civic, and academic skills that school fosters (Sun et al, 2021). To identify students who are struggling, the teacher can look at quantitative metrics, such as a student's grades over the course of the school year.…”

“…The teacher should also look for absenteeism and disengagement in class. Disengaged students are more often in dysfunctional families than are their peers (Sun et al, 2021). The student's relationship with classmates can also give the teacher clues about their social vulnerability.…”

“…The student's relationship with classmates can also give the teacher clues about their social vulnerability. Students with tumultuous family relationships tend to have relationships with classmates that are compromised, making it more likely that such students will participate in or be victimized by bullying (Sun et al, 2021). Bullying often worsens the situation of the student, leading to inadequate socio-emotional adjustment, increased rates of substance abuse, guilt, worry, withdrawal from social interactions, disobedience, and academic underachievement (Sun et al, 2021).…”

The interRAI Child and Youth Suite of Mental Health Assessment Instruments: An Integrated Approach to Mental Health Service Delivery

“…It is designed to support a similar broad range of applications, including case-mix classification, quality indicators, outcome measurement, and comprehensive care planning. Particularly, the tool supports care plan development in 30 domains, such as communication, attention and learning supports, vision and hearing impairment, strengths, classroom management/discipline, and is intended to support school engagement ( 129 – 131 ).…”