Youngsters who persistently do not attend school.

5% of the children attending psychiatric clinics in the UK have difficulties with school attendance and these stem from difficulties which are predominantly social (truancy) or predominantly psychological or dynamic (school refusal). Adolescents who display school refusal are three times more likely to develop neurotic difficulties in adult life, especially if marked family difficulties are persistent. Up to 20% of the senior school pupils may truant in a 2-week period and teachers report these youngsters to be more aggressive and to show more neurotic symptoms then the regular school attenders. Their peers choose them significantly less often as friends, and the marked differences in the rate of absence between schools seems related to school philosophy and the degree of school involvement in the community. Truancy can be influenced by greater vigilance in the school and by legal intervention. Although absence from school in itself does not seem to adversely influence the youngsters' adult functioning, if it is associated with conduct problems and educational retardation, long-term difficulties are common.