Relationship between Disability Characteristics and School Refusal in School-aged Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Motoki KURUMAI; Makoto KONO; Kaori YAMAGUCHI; Kiyoshi ISHII; Wataru KAKUDA

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Relationship between Disability Characteristics and School Refusal in School-aged Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

VernacularTitle:学齢期の自閉症スペクトラム障害児における障害特性と不登校との関連
Author: Motoki KURUMAI ¹ ; Makoto KONO ² ; Kaori YAMAGUCHI ³ ; Kiyoshi ISHII ⁴ ; Wataru KAKUDA ⁵
Author Information

1. Rehabilitation Services Office, International University of Health and Welfare Narita Hospital
2. International University of Health and Welfare School of Health Sciences at Odawara
3. Department of Health and Welfare Services, National Institute of Public Health
4. Yakuzemi Informative Education Center Co., LTD.
5. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, International University of Health and Welfare School of Medicine
Keywords: autism spectrum disorder; school refusal
From:The Japanese Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine 2025;62(10):1036-1044
CountryJapan
Language:Japanese
Abstract: Objective: This study aims to statistically clarify the association between disability characteristics and school refusal in school-aged children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).Methods: The subjects were 158 school-aged children with ASD who were prescribed rehabilitation at Narita Hospital of International University of Health and Welfare. The following information was collected from medical records: presence or absence of school refusal, age, gender, the Autism Screening Questionnaire (ASQ) scores, result of the Wechsler Intelligence Test 4th version, the Sensory Profile (SP) scores, the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale for Children and Adolescents scores, decline in family functions, bullying, and enrolled class. Poisson regression analysis was conducted using both crude and adjusted models. School refusal was the dependent variable, while ASQ and SP subcategories were the independent variables. Age and other factors were used as covariates in the adjusted model.Results: The “sensory avoidance” of the SP subcategory was significantly associated with school refusal in both the crude and adjusted models (odds ratio, 95% confidence interval: 1.03, 1.01-1.05, 1.03, 1.00-1.05, respectively).Conclusion: Analysis of the association between disability characteristics and school refusal in school-aged children with ASD suggests that sensory processing deficits are associated with school refusal.