Article Title: Psychopathology And Anxiety Perception Amongst Parents Of Children With School Refusal
Author(s): Avinash De Sousa
Institute(s): Carmel, 18 St Francis Avenue, Willingdon Colony, Santacruz – West Mumbai – 400054, State – Maharashtra, India.
Journal: Journal of Pakistan Psychiatric Society, 2009; 6(1): 36-41 SHORT COMMUNICATION
Correspondence Address: avinashdes999@yahoo.co.uk
Introduction
In keeping with society’s expectation concerning education and school attendance, most children attend school on a regular and voluntary basis. For some children there is difficulty in attending school plagued with emotional distress, especially anxiety and depression. Terms such as school phobia or separation anxiety may be used interchangeably but the term school refusal is
preferable due to its descriptive and comprehensive nature.
Subjects And Methods
The subjects for the study were children with school refusal and their parents that presented to a private psychiatric clinic in Mumbai, India. All children belonged to the age group 8-12 years and were studying in a non boarding full day school.
Results
No major differences were noted in the socio-demographic data of both parents. Mean ages of the fathers was 43.6 years and mothers was 39.4 years. Majority of both parents were graduates and above (> 80%). 92% of the fathers were employed while 42% of mothers were housewives in keeping with Indian cultural standards. Mean age of the children was 9.4 years.
