School Refusal and Absenteeism: Perception of Teacher Behaviors, Psychological Basic Needs, and Academic Achievement

Abstract

School refusal (SR) is a complex problem that may be caused by different risk factors such as individual and contextual factors ( Kearney, 2007 ; Maynard et al., 2018 ; Heyne et al., 2019 ). These mechanisms can be described in the context of self-determination theory (SDT). For these reasons, the purpose of the present study is investigate the relationship between teacher perceived psychological control and support, psychological basic needs, SR behavior, and academic achievement, on adolescent sample. It is hypothesized that teacher perceived psychological control and autonomy support play a role on need frustration and need satisfaction; in turn, need satisfaction could reduce while need frustration could promote SR behavior and number of absences. Finally, SR behavior and number of absences could reduce academic achievement. 263 students (196 females, 67 males) with an average age of 16.14 (SD = 1.35; range 13–20 years). SEM analyses with observed variables have shown that the final model fit well the data, χ 2 (8) = 16.34, p = 0.04, CFI = 0.96, SRMR = 0.04, RMSEA (90% CI) = 0.06 (0.01; 0.10), showing the following significant path: need satisfaction was positively predicted by perceived teacher support and negatively predicted by teacher perceived psychological control; need frustration was positively predicted by teacher perceived psychological control; number of absences was negatively predicted by need satisfaction; SR was positively predicted by need frustration; school achievement was negatively predicted by SR and number of absences. These results have several implications for the school context and the deepening of the construct of SR and absenteeism.

Teaching style and academic achievement: The mediating role of learned helplessness and mastery orientation

“…Controlling teachers seriously threaten their students’ self‐esteem and intrinsic motivation and can induce feelings of shame and anxiety (Soenens et al, ). Several studies found that a perceived atmosphere of controlling teaching was related to low motivational levels to study (Assor, Kaplan, Kanat‐Maymon, & Roth, ), poor school performance (Filippello, Buzzai, Costa, & Sorrenti, ; Vansteenkiste, Zhou, Lens, & Soenens, ), and school engagement (Earl, Taylor, Meijen, & Passfield, ). Furthermore, exposed to psychologically controlling teaching practices, students feel pressured and may even develop a sense of helplessness in regard to the learning activities (De Meyer, Soenens, Aelterman, de Bourdeaudhuij, & Haerens, ; Filippello et al, ).…”

Testing the Functional Profiles of School Refusal Behavior and Clarifying Their Relationship With School Anxiety

“…School non-attendance has been linked to numerous deficits, such as cognitive-academic, social and behavioral. Specifically, School Attendance Problems (SAPs) have been linked to poor academic performance, low scores on reading and mathematics tests, grade repetitions and even school dropout (1)(2)(3)(4). Likewise, internalizing and externalizing behavior problems are frequent in adolescents with difficulties attending school, among which we can include anxiety, depression, substance use and pre-criminal behavior (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10).…”

The Relationship Between Contextual and Dispositional Variables, Well-Being and Hopelessness in School Context

“…In particular, a supportive context that encourages autonomy increases the level of student engagement and effectively balances students' needs and their academic activities, promoting the formation of an internal locus of motivation (Reeve et al, 2004;Reeve and Jang, 2006) and persistence even in the face of failure (Aunola et al, 2013). Therefore, a supportive environment strengthens self-realization and can facilitate positive functioning among adolescents within schools (Reeve and Jang, 2006;Filippello et al, 2019a). On the contrary, a thwarting context, characterized by pressure and coercion that makes individuals feel inadequate and emotionally disconnected, favors maladjustment and the development of school HPL (Barber and Harmon, 2002;Soenens et al, 2010;Li et al, 2016;Filippello et al, 2020).…”