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School Absenteeism Associated With Child Protection System Involvement, Maltreatment Type, and Time in Out-of-Home

Jason M Armfield1, Emmanuel Gnanamanickam1, Ha T Nguyen1

  • 1Australian Centre for Precision Health, Cancer Research Institute, School of Health Sciences, 1067University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.

Child Maltreatment
|March 14, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Children with substantiated maltreatment experience significantly higher rates of school absenteeism and truancy. Early child protection system (CPS) involvement and additional adversities worsen these effects, highlighting the need for targeted interventions.

Area of Science:

  • Child Development
  • Educational Psychology
  • Social Work

Background:

  • School absenteeism is linked to negative educational outcomes.
  • Child protection system (CPS) involvement is a critical factor in child welfare.
  • Understanding the relationship between CPS involvement and absenteeism is crucial for intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine the association between child protection system (CPS) involvement and school absenteeism.
  • To investigate how factors like maltreatment type, timing of CPS notification, and duration in out-of-home care influence absenteeism.
  • To explore the additive effects of additional adversities on absenteeism in children with CPS involvement.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective cohort design utilizing linked administrative data.
  • Analysis of data from 296,422 children.
  • Multivariate analyses to assess the relationship between CPS involvement and various measures of absenteeism (unexplained, problem, chronic truancy, acceptable absences).

Main Results:

  • Children with substantiated maltreatment had 4.1 times more unexplained and problem absences than those with no CPS involvement.
  • Substantiated maltreatment was associated with significantly greater chronic truancy (OR = 3.41) and less acceptable absences (OR = 0.74).
  • Early CPS notification and additional adversities amplified absenteeism; extended out-of-home care showed protective effects for some children.

Conclusions:

  • CPS involvement, particularly substantiated maltreatment, is strongly associated with increased school absenteeism.
  • The type, timing, and duration of CPS involvement, along with other adversities, significantly impact absenteeism.
  • Findings suggest potential for interventions to reduce problem absenteeism and inform policy debates on mitigating harm from CPS involvement.

Keywords:
child abusechild maltreatmentchild protective servicescohort studiesschool functioning

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