School absenteeism; factors affecting long-term absence from school

Aim: The thesis aimed to examine the following; (1) differences in social support, selfefficacy, empowerment, social anxiety and judgement of present and future prospects in relation to sex and age; (2) effects of the intervention (comparing data from pre- and postsample); and (3) factors that are of importance to judgement of present situation, social anxiety and judgement of future prospects. Sample: The sample consisted of 79 Norwegian adolescents aged 16-24 who were at high risk of dropping out of high school, or were not attending school or work. The adolescents were participating in a year-long intervention programme aimed to get them back to school or work within the year. As part of the intervention, the participants filled out a questionnaire before and after completing the intervention, which served as the basis of the current study. Results: The results indicated that the intervention did have a positive effect. There were significant improvements in the psychological variables when data from before and after the intervention was compared, i.e. the respondents received more social support, and reported more self-efficacy and empowerment after the termination of the intervention programme compared to the start-up phase. Social anxiety was reduced and they judged their own future prospects more positively. The results also showed that social anxiety and judgement of present and future prospects may be of importance to long-term absence from school. In addition, social relationships seemed to be of importance. Discussion/conclusion: The results of the study showed that the intervention programme changed psychological variables in a positive direction. However, the small sample restricted the study’s capability to draw decisive conclusions