The Relationship between Stress and School Absenteeism

Abstract

Research has shown that stress is related to higher rates of absenteeism among adolescents. The present study investigated to what extent the relationship between stress and school absenteeism is affected by social support and two types of perfectionism, adaptive perfectionism and maladaptive perfectionism, among adolescents in the Netherlands. Data of the cross-sectional quantitative ‘Peilstation 2019’ survey research were used. The sample consisted of secondary education students (N = 5527, 48.9% female) between 10 and 16 years old. The results of a linear regression analysis with absenteeism as dependent variable showed that independent variable stress was related to higher rates of absenteeism. However, independent variables adaptive perfectionism, maladaptive perfectionism and social support did not have a notable interaction with the relationship between stress and absenteeism. Regardless, social support and perfectionism were related to stress and school absenteeism. Both types of perfectionism were related to more stress, whereas social support was related to less stress. Adaptive perfectionism was also related to increased school absenteeism, whereas social support was related to less absenteeism. Future research should study the dimensions of perfectionism and how those relate to stress, school absenteeism and social support.