CURRENT PROJECTS

Study targets fear of going to school

A team of researchers led by the Offord Centre’s Kathryn Bennett has received a grant to investigate what causes school-related anxiety, a problem that keeps as many as five per cent of children out of class on a regular basis.

The $187,000 grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council will be used to examine anxiety disorders, peer victimization and poor student-teacher relationships as possible reasons why children refuse to go to school.

A lot of studies have been done on truancy (skipping school due to disobedience and a defiance of rules) but very little has been done on absenteeism as a result of school-related anxiety. 

Says Dr. Bennett: “Many of these kids go untreated and the ones we do see are only the tip of the iceberg.  If we can find out what’s causing it, we will have a better chance of preventing and treating it.”