Family Dynamics and School Attendance Problems: Narrative Review and Recommendations for Clinical Processes

Abstract

School attendance is a central aspect of many family lives, and school attendance problems thus represent vexing challenges for many families. Integrated ecological frameworks of school attendance problems prominently feature the role of family dynamics with respect to contextual variables that impact these problems, which have ramifications for how the problems must be addressed by multiple stakeholders. This article presents a narrative review of key family dynamics and family centric recommendations for addressing school attendance problems for community- and school-based professionals that commonly intersect with this population (e.g., clinical child psychologists, family therapists, pediatricians, child psychiatrists; school-based psychologists, counselors, social workers, and nurses). Key family dynamics that have been linked to school attendance problems include conflict, enmeshment, detachment, isolation, and healthy functioning, the latter including adaptive reasons for missing school. Caregiver-related factors and relevance to culturally diverse, historically marginalized, and underserved populations are emphasized as well. The article continues with a discussion of practical clinical implications vis-à-vis family dynamics, including the stages of assessment, case conceptualization and consultation, and treatment. Recommendations are provided in each clinical section to help community- and school-based professionals manage this complex and heterogeneous population, with a particular focus on family oriented interventions.