Functional Assessment of School Attendance Problems: An Adapted Version of the School Refusal Assessment Scale-Revised

D. A. Heyne*, L. J. Vreeke, M. Maric, H. Boelens, B. M. Van Widenfelt

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

The School Refusal Assessment Scale (SRAS) was developed to identify four factors that might maintain a youth’s school attendance problem (SAP), and thus be targeted for treatment. There is still limited support for the four-factor model inherent to the SRAS and its revision (SRAS-R). Recent studies indicate problems with the wording of eight items added to the SRAS to form the SRAS-R. We examined the factorial validity of an adapted item set comprising 16 of the 24 SRAS-R items and eight items developed for this study. The eight items paralleled the content of the SRAS-R items being replaced but were less complex and ambiguous. Data were gathered from 199 youth with a SAP and 131 parents. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the adapted item set supported a four-factor model. Internal consistency reliability of the subscales was higher than it is commonly reported in SRAS-R studies. Concurrent validity was supported by associations between the four factors and measures of internalizing or externalizing behavior. The adapted SRAS-R may help professionals reliably assess the relative strength of factors maintaining SAPs. This is one of the few studies conducted independent of the instrument’s developer and in a school culture different from that where the instrument is usually tested.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)178-192
JournalJournal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders
Volume25
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017

Keywords

  • absenteeism
  • school attendance problem
  • functional assessment
  • School Refusal Assessment Scale–Revised
  • treatment utility

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