Teachers’ views on risk factors for problematic school absenteeism in Swedish primary school students

Abstract

In the present online survey, 158 teachers in regular and special education teaching in grades six to nine were asked to rate the importance of probable reasons for problematic school absenteeism. On average, the teachers estimated that among their students, 19 students had presented with problematic school absenteeism over the last five years. Teachers viewed school absenteeism as a multifactorial problem. Family factors were considered to contribute most and low mood or depression were rated as one of the five most contributing factors. Teachers in special education viewed school factors as more influential than teachers in mainstream education did (t156 = −3.94, p < 0.05). The current findings stress the importance of collaboration between the school, parents and the student to be able to address all factors that may lead to problematic school absenteeism.