Abstract
Introduction: School refusal is an important public health concern in adolescent psychiatry increasing over the past several years (5% of child and adolescent psychiatry consultations in France). Multifamily therapy has developed over 30 years. Its efficacy is validated in adult, child and adolescent psychiatry, including for children at risk of school exclusion. In this study, we aimed to explore the adolescents and their parent's experience of a multifamily therapy treatment of school refusal with a qualitative method.Materials and Methods: This qualitative study is based on an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis approach. We conducted 15 semi-structured interviews, participants were adolescents (n = 6) and their parents (n = 9) who experienced multifamily therapy in an adolescent department in Paris. Data analysis was performed independently by two researchers.Results: For the six families, school was a source of suffering, system paralysis and social exclusion. Families reported painful emotions and separation anxiety. For teenagers, multifamily therapy increased self-confidence and allowed group experience. For parents, it gave support and relieved from feelings of stigmatization and guilt. Parents became more aware of their adolescent's suffering and their insight. They all considered that multifamily therapy improved intra-family communication and expression of emotion. Participants highlighted the benefits of intergenerational interactions, activities, group and guidance from therapists.Discussion: Multifamily therapy uses therapeutic tools from both family therapy (joining, resonance, family competence, and metacommunication) and group therapy (use of media, identity device, and mirror reactions). Parents expect school solutions from multifamily therapy and question how psychiatric treatment can deal with school, school refusal being therefore understood as a social functioning disorder.
Highlights
School refusal is an important public health concern in adolescent psychiatry increasing over the past several years (5% of child and adolescent psychiatry consultations in France)
First named “school phobia” by [6], school refusal is distinct from others forms of school attendance problems (SAP), such as truancy, school withdrawal, and school exclusion
We studied if what was described in Multifamily therapy (MFT) theory was found through families reported experiences, and if it was relevant for school refusal treatment
Summary
School refusal is an important public health concern in adolescent psychiatry increasing over the past several years (5% of child and adolescent psychiatry consultations in France). School Refusal, a Major Public Health Issue. School refusal is a worldwide current public health issue [1, 2]. It increased over the past years and concerns 5% of consultations in preadolescence and adolescence psychiatry in France [3,4,5]. Truancy, as school exclusion, are more often associated with behavioral disorder and oppositional defiance disorder [2]. The existence of reasonable parental efforts is important to assess school refusal. Neither DSM 5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) nor ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases) recognize school refusal as a diagnosis, underlying the social and educational issues at stake
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