The PASS Programme: Behavioural Intervention for Truancy

Investigators:

A/Prof Neville King
Prof. Bruce Tonge
A/Prof. Ernest Luk

This project addresses the treatment of truancy, a relatively neglected area of research and a challenging issue for mental health professionals and school authorities. Although a certain reluctance to attend school is normal for children, some children exhibit high levels of oppositional and negativistic behaviour when pressed to attend school as well as being defiant and troublesome at school. When coupled with a loss of interest in school work, poor school performance and relationship problems at school this may result in school avoidance. Since the children are not usually at home through the school day, parents are often unaware of lapses in school attendance until brought to their attention by school personnel. Unauthorized school non-attendance of this kind is referred to as truancy. Typically, these young people display antisocial behaviours and either become part of a delinquent peer group or more rarely become antisocial loners. Truancy is easily differentiated from school refusal in which school avoidance is associated with excessive anxiety, particularly separation anxiety, and occurs with the knowledge of the parents.

The aims of this study are to assess the efficacy of behavioural intervention for truancy, and to assess the maintenance of therapeutic gains. A family-based behavioural intervention package is to be offered because of the importance of the family context in the development and treatment of truancy. The specific hypotheses under investigation are: (a) that behavioural intervention will be associated with greater improvements in measures of child functioning than control conditions; (b) that behavioural intervention will be associated with greater improvements in measures of parent and family functioning than control conditions; and (c) that behavioural intervention will produce better, long-term maintenance of therapeutic gains than control conditions.

Further information may be obtained from Danny Bryant ((03) 9594 1300).