Association among school refusal behavior, self-esteem, parental school involvement and aggression in punctual and truant school-going adolescents: a multilevel analysis

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the prevalence and association among school refusal behavior, self-esteem, parental school involvement and aggression in punctual and truant school-going adolescents. Design/methodology/approach A purposive sampling technique and cross-sectional design were used in the current study. Participants comprised three heterogeneous sub-groups: school truant students, park truant students and punctual students. Findings This study's findings indicated that father and mother's school involvement was related to more elevated level of self-esteem for school truant students. Results also indicated that male truant students had more significant probability to school refusal behavior and physical aggression as compared to female truant students. Moreover, results revealed that physical aggression fully mediated among mother's school involvement, academic self and school refusal behavior in punctual students and school truant students. Originality/value There is more need to develop indigenous school-based preventions and interventions aimed at decreasing school truancy in Pakistani context by tackling the predisposing vulnerable factors and supporting and encouraging the protective family and internal factors.