Ecological and Typological Characteristics in Early Adolescent Truancy

Abstract

Personal, family, and setting characteristics associated with truancy were assessed for 25 junior high school truants and 25 nontruants, matched for age, grade, gender, and socioeconomic level. Truants were less likely to live with both parents, had more siblings, and scored lower in academic ability and achievement. They did not differ in attitudes or interests, nor on self-esteem. Truants who graduated four years later were very similar to graduating nontruants. The former scored significantly higher on academic ability and GPA, and lower on number of siblings than truants of unknown graduation status. Compared with previous studies, these truants showed less personality disturbance, less school absence, and expressed more favorable attitudes toward school, differences that may reflect community characteristics. Conducting a series of incremental multimethod studies on a specific problem across settings is offered as a productive and economical alternative to single large-scale tests of theory, independent of setting.

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