Slifi, Johannah;
(2024)
Exploring Experiences of Emotionally Based School Avoidance Across the Primary to Secondary School Transition: the Perspectives of Young People, Parents/Carers and School Staff.
Doctoral thesis (D.Ed.Psy), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
The primary to secondary school transition is a key milestone in the lives of children and young people. This transition is highlighted in the research literature as a key risk factor in the development of Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA) difficulties. There is a paucity in research in relation to which factors change across the school transition, making EBSA difficulties more likely to occur. This study sought to understand how children with experience of EBSA and the key adults in their lives defined a successful school transition, which factors changed across the transition and the impact of these changes on EBSA status. Multi-informant questionnaires were used to identify case studies of children with different EBSA profiles and semi-structured interviews with case study children, their parents and school staff were undertaken. Though not a selection criterion, all case study children had neurodivergent diagnoses. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to develop themes that occurred across case studies. Case study questionnaire measures were compared pre and post transition to identify the factors that changed across the transition and the resulting impact on EBSA status. Research findings suggest that school belonging, social belonging, effective partnership working between school staff and families and reasonable adjustments for neurodivergent students are important factors in successful school transitions for students with experience of EBSA. Higher resilience scores post transition did not correlate with a reduced EBSA status when this was based on attendance and parent-reported anxiety alone. Research findings have important implications for school practice, education policy and the work of educational psychologists and demonstrate the need for a nuanced, systemic and multi-faceted understanding of both EBSA and school transition difficulties in order to identify needs and to target support efficiently.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | D.Ed.Psy |
| Title: | Exploring Experiences of Emotionally Based School Avoidance Across the Primary to Secondary School Transition: the Perspectives of Young People, Parents/Carers and School Staff |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2024. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| Keywords: | EBSA, School Attendance, Primary to secondary school transition |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Psychology and Human Development |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10195517 |
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