Features of truancy
- commonest in last year of compulsory education
- usually boys who conceal their whereabouts from their parents when not at school
- often from large families with inconsistent discipline, effectively absent fathers and a history of antisocial behaviour in other family members
- poor academic records
- association with conduct disorder and delinquency but rarely emotional disorder
- parents may collude in the non-attendance because they do not value education and/or have been truants themselves (little family expectation of attendance).
- factors within the school may discourage attendance
Truancy is not likely to respond to psychiatric intervention. Persistent truancy in a young child who goes off alone is a more serious problem and may reflect anger and resentment towards home.
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