Exploring the views of post-primary school staff on anxiety based school refusal

The main research question addressed their awareness and understanding of ABSR and a sub-question considered their views on the barriers and facilitators to providing support and making interventions for young people exhibiting ABSR.

The nine participants were from three post-primary schools and held a variety of both teaching and non-teaching roles. Thematic analysis of transcribed data found that participants differed in their conceptualisation of ABSR and this provided the context for the study findings. There were also divergent views on the contributory factors to ABSR (within child, home based or school based).