School refusal and optimism and pessimism in an Ecuadorian adolescents’ sample

Both school refusal and optimism and pessimism are constructs widely studied in the school setting because of their impact on student academic achievement and emotional well-being. However, there are few studies that have analyzed the relation between both variables. This work aimed to analyze the differences in optimism and pessimism among students with high and low scores on school refusal. 1,786 Ecuadorian adolescents aged 15 to 18 (Mage = 16.31; SD = 1.01) answered to the School Refusal Assessment Scale-Revised for Children (SRAS-R-C) and the Youth Life Orientation Test (YLOT). Student’s t-test of mean differences for independent samples revealed that students with low levels of school refusal based on the avoidance of stimuli that provoke negative affectivity, on the escape from social aversion and/or evaluative situations, as well as on the pursuit of tangible reinforcement outside of school, scored significantly higher on optimism. On the other hand, students with high levels of school refusal due to avoidance of stimuli that provoke negative affectivity, due to the escape from social aversion and/or evaluative situations and due to the pursuit of attention from significant others, obtained significantly higher scores on pessimism. These results provide relevant information for the design of intervention programs on pessimistic attitudes addressed to students who show high school refusal