Anxiety In Children Can Lead To Their Increasing Absence In School: Study

New research has finds that anxiety can be a major factor in poor school attendance among children and even to young people. The study, by the University of Exeter Medical School, conducted a systematic review, that analyses all available evidence in the field. The study, that is published in the Child and Adolescent Mental Health will increase your understanding of the link between anxiety and poor school attendance, significantly once nonexempt.

The research, supported by the Wellcome Trust and therefore the National Institute for Health Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC) South West Peninsula (PenCLAHRC), says additional studies are required that follow children over time to clearly disentangle whether or not the worry ends up in poor school attendance or the other way round.

The team categorized school attendance into the following categories which are absence i.e. total absences; excused/medical absences; nonexempt absences/truancy; and school refusal, where the child struggles to attend school due to emotional distress, despite awareness from parents and teachers. Findings from eight studies advised a stunning association between hooky and worry, as well as the expected link between worry and school refusal.

Lead author Katie Finning aforementioned, “Anxiety could be a major issue that not only affects young people’s schooling but also can lead worse educational, social and economic outcomes throughout life. It’s important that we pick up the warning signs and support our young people as early as possible. Their research has identified the gap of high-quality studies in their area, and they urgently need to address this gap so that you can best understand how to give your young people the best start in life.”

Professor Tamsin Ford, who was concerned within the analysis, further added: “School staff and health professionals ought to be tuned in to the chance that anxiety may underlie poor school attendance and can also cause lot of different physical symptoms, like tummy and headaches”. Lots of things concerning the school can trigger anxiety in children and it is important to realise that while we all get anxious about somethings, anxiety that is severe can have a major impact on children’s development.

The researchers concluded that anxiety is extremely treatable and there are effective treatments. It is also important to understand that anxiety can lead to impulses to avoid the thing that makes one anxious. Although this avoidance reduces anxiety in the short term, it makes it even harder to cope with the trigger next time and so makes the problem worse.

Also Read: Check Out Some Steps to Deal With Panic Attacks And Anxiety In A Better Way