Social Factors Influencing Absenteeism due to Illness in Nursery School Children

Abstract

An archival study involving data for 204 children enrolled in a nursery school examined social and other factors related to absenteeism from school due to reported illness. Parents' ratings of the child's sociability prior to entering school were inversely related to absenteeism rate during the first year of school after statistically controlling for socioeconomic class, birth order, sex, the child's early health history, and family and sibling interaction patterns. Additional analyses based on a subset of the sample indicated that teachers' perceptions of the children's sociability were also related to absentee rates (but not to parents' sociability ratings).

Complaints and complaining: Functions, antecedents, and consequences.

“…To avoid an interaction entirely, an individual may complain about his or her discomfort in social interactions or other obligations he or she already has, excuses viewed by some as socially acceptable (Snyder & Smith, 1986). For example, Pennebaker, Hendler, Durrett, and Richards (1981) found that nursery school children who were low in sociability (i.e., shy, aggressive, etc.) had higher rates of absenteeism than children high in sociability.…”

“…One explanation that they proposed for this finding was that attending school for unsociable children was an aversive experience from which they desired an escape. Complaining of illness may be one way for the unsociable child to avoid the situation (Pennebaker et al, 1981).…”

“…Third, people who are high in FNE, need for approval, social anxiety, or embarrassability frequently experience increased autonomic arousal in social encounters (Hitchcock & Matthews, 1992; Pennebaker et al, 1981). In some instances, arousal increases the salience of physical symptoms, thereby potentially enhancing the likelihood of complaining.…”