A Study of School Absenteeism and Student Well-being in Elementary Schools

NCT07000799 | Enrolling By Invitation

• 1 other identifier: 853141
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 112
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study will be conducted at elementary schools in Oslo and aims to explore multiple aspects of school absenteeism and student well-being. It has two main objectives: 1) a preventive focus specifically related to school attendance and functioning, and 2) a user perspective that includes measuring user satisfaction with the interventions used in the study. The aim is to investigate whether the EMOTION intervention can be utilized to enhance school attendance and functioning for children experiencing emerging difficulties in attending school, who also tend to be more sad and anxious than their peers. Additionally, the study seeks to compare changes in anxiety and sadness with previous studies involving the EMOTION intervention through benchmarking. The perceptions of parents regarding the causes of their children's difficulties will also be examined. Evaluating user satisfaction with the EMOTION intervention in relation to emerging school absenteeism and the implementation of attendance teams in the schools is another objective. This will contribute to increased knowledge about interventions targeting children with emerging difficulties in school attendance and their experiences with these interventions.

Conditions

School Absenteeism; Anxiety and Depression

Keywords

school absenteism; anxiety; depression; Prevention; Early intervention

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Primar outcomes for absenteeism

  Primary outcome measures Children: School attendance: Screen for Early Development of School Absenteeism: SCREEN. Scores from 1 - 5 , not at all to very, higher score indicates higher absentism. Primary outcome measures Parents: Screen for Early Development of School Absenteeism: SCRE

  From screening for enrollment (T1), at the end of treatment after approximately 10 weeks (T2) and 6 moths after the intervention finished (T3)

Study Arms (1)

Intervention arm with new groups entering the intervention every semester

EXPERIMENTAL

The design is a single arm pre-post design where the children will receive the EMOTION intervention over 8 weeks and attendance teams will be implemented in their school. The EMOTION Intervention is based on cognitive-behavioral therapy, which has been shown to be effective in both the treatment and prevention of anxiety and depression in children. The EMOTION intervention has been developed as a school-based program and consists of an intensive course lasting eight weeks, using a hybrid model with eight face-to-face group meetings at school and eight hours of digital sessions completed by the child at home. Additionally, it is desirable for parents to support their children; hence, guardians will be offered the opportunity to attend an informational meeting. They will also receive a brochure detailing how they can support and assist their child. A group leader manual and a workbook for the children have been developed (Martinsen et al., 2017). In the children's groups, participants

Behavioral: CBT

Interventions

CBT BEHAVIORAL

The EMOTION Intervention is based on cognitive-behavioral therapy, which has been shown to be effective in both the treatment and prevention of anxiety and depression in children. The EMOTION intervention has been developed as a school-based program and consists of an intensive course lasting eight weeks, using a hybrid model with eight face-to-face group meetings at school and eight hours of digital sessions completed by the child at home. Additionally, it is desirable for parents to support their children; hence, guardians will be offered the opportunity to attend an informational meeting. They will also receive a brochure detailing how they can support and assist their child. A group leader manual and a workbook for the children have been developed (Martinsen et al., 2017).

Intervention arm with new groups entering the intervention every semester

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 8 Years - 13 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• Children wherer the child or parents report difficulties related to school participation/functioning
• and who exhibit elevated symptom levels for self-reported anxiety and/or sadness RCADS - 47

You may not qualify if:

• Children who are deemed not to benefit from a group intervention includeing children with low cognitive capacity or with developmental disorders.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Oslo: lead

Study Sites (1)

University of Oslo

Oslo, 0473, Norway

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Martinsen KD, Rasmussen LMP, Wentzel-Larsen T, Holen S, Sund AM, Lovaas MES, Patras J, Kendall PC, Waaktaar T, Neumer SP. Prevention of anxiety and depression in school children: Effectiveness of the transdiagnostic EMOTION program. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2019 Feb;87(2):212-219. doi: 10.1037/ccp0000360. Epub 2018 Dec 13.

  PMID: 30550301 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Anxiety Disorders; Depression

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Mental Disorders; Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior

Study Officials

• Kristin D. Martinsen, PhD

  UiO

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor in Psychology, PhD

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: April 24, 2025
• First Posted: June 3, 2025
• Study Start: March 28, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2026
• Last Updated: June 3, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-05

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

NO (1)