Exploratory longitudinal associations between SAPs and individual and contextual variables: toward the development of educational guidelines.

School attendance problems (SAPs) are a widespread phenomenon with significant academic,
psychological, social, and relational consequences. These issues are particularly
prevalent among adolescents worldwide and require careful examination of the individual
and contextual factors associated with their onset and persistence to develop effective
prevention and intervention strategies. Grounded in an ecological and systemic framework
of school absenteeism, this longitudinal study examined the reciprocal associations between
SAPs, learned helplessness, mastery orientation, academic procrastination, perceived
competence (general, academic, relational, leisure), and school climate (teacher support,
peer connection, school connection, affirming diversity, clarity of rules, and reporting and
seeking help) in a sample of 523 high school students (Mage at T1 = 15.64, SD = 0.97),
using a cross-lagged panel model. Results indicate temporal stability of SAPs and the
examined variables over one school year. Notably, alongside the longitudinal associations
between SAPs and different individual and contextual variables, a significant bidirectional
relationship emerges between learned helplessness and SAPs, suggesting that feelings
of helplessness are linked to greater school disengagement and increased absences. This
finding confirms the importance of emotional, motivational, and cognitive vulnerabilities in
shaping school participation trajectories. The results emphasize the need for school-based
prevention and intervention strategies targeting these factors. Accordingly, guidelines are
proposed for educational interventions addressing SAPs.