Are there differences in school rejection according to school anxiety levels?

Abstract

School anxiety is defined as a set of cognitive, psychophysiological and motor responses that a child emits in school situations that are threatening and / or ambiguous. The association that can occur between this behavior and other psychoeducational variables such as school refusal, makes it one of the most influential factors in the adjustment of children to the educational context. The purpose of this study was to check if there were differences in the level of manifestation of the different types of school rejection according to the level of school anxiety in primary school students. To carry out this study, a sample of 525 students with ages ranging from 8 to 12 years old (second and third cycle of Primary Education) was selected. Participants completed the School Anxiety Inventory for Primary Education (IAEP) and the Spanish version of the School Refusal Assessment Scale-Revised for Children (SRAS-R / C). Students in the group of high levels of school anxiety scored significantly higher than students with low levels of school anxiety in the first three factors of SARS-R / C: School rejection to avoid negative emotions, School refusal to escape aversive social situations and school rejection to attract attention. On the contrary, these results were different from those obtained for the fourth factor of the SARAS-R / C (Rejection to obtain tangible rewards outside the school), because no statistically significant differences were found between the groups with high and low anxiety. school. The results indicate that, in the Primary Education stage, school anxiety is associated with higher levels of school refusal. However, not all students who refuse to attend school show school anxiety, as demonstrated by the absence of statistically significant differences in the fourth factor of the SARS-C / R.