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Truancy in secondary education: prevalence and profiles of students including characteristics of family environment and links with school
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DOI：10.5944/educxx1.38573.png)
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Abstract
En 中文
Truancy is a widespread phenomenon in the world with serious consequences. This study aims to: 1) assess the prevalence of truancy among the population of schoolchildren between 12 and 16 years of age in a Spanish city (Huelva); 2) describe its sociodemographic variability; and 3) establish a typology of student profiles in relation to this problem, considering the level of truancy, the characteristics of the family environment and links with the school. A random, representative sample of schoolchildren in mandatory secondary education in the city (n= 1036; 49.7% female, average age 14.2 years) completed an anonymous questionnaire in class or online. The data were analysed by means of bivariate analysis and using an exploratory multivariate technique (Multiple Correspondence Analysis). A total of 32% of the sample revealed that they had practised truancy to some degree in the previous 30 days, and 24.1% reported having missed at least one full day of school without a good excuse in the previous 30 days. The prevalence of truancy is higher among pupils whose parents have a low level of education and immigrant-origin children, as well as those with relatively high amounts of pocket money. The study concludes with a typological classification of the children into five different profiles. The results suggest that truancy is a complex phenomenon, with subtle and probably unstable differences between truants and non-truants, so the key to preventing it would not lie in focusing on those cases of pronounced truancy, but rather in taking intersectoral action to tackle the range of factors that contribute to truancy.
Keywords:
truancy
secondary education
prevalence
correlates
profiles
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