ABSTRACT
While a high proportion of children who present with separation anxiety have at least one episode of school refusal, this is now widely seen as an inadequate explanation for all cases of school refusal. In identifying differing types of school refusal, a distinction is often drawn between acute and chronic absence, a factor that may be important in devising of appropriate interventions. The heterogeneous nature of school refusal is such that a detailed assessment of child operating within their wider social context is necessary in order to derive the most appropriate intervention. School refusal may be a powerful weapon for a child who feels generally powerless to control a break-up of family. With regard to school refusal, behavioural approaches usually involve a graduated weakening of relationship of school attendance with associated negative emotions. A change of school is usually only advisable where child’s school refusal is wholly related to a specific educational context that is unlikely to be successfully modified.
