. 2019 Jul 15;48(9):1637–1667. doi: 10.1007/s10964-019-01072-5

Table 2.

Overall effect sizes of all risk domains for school absenteeism

Domain of risk factors	# Studies	# ES	Mean z (SE)	95% CI	Sig. mean z (p)	% Var. at level 1	Level 2 variance	% Var. at level 2	Level 3 variance	% Var. at level 3	Mean r
Child domains (#24)
Having a negative school attitude	11	72	0.553 (0.222)	(0.110, 0.996)	<0.001^***	0.0	0.003^***	0.6	0.536^***	99.4	0.503^a
Anti-social behavior/cognitions	19	53	0.457 (0.180)	(0.096, 0.818)	0.014^*	0.0	0.018^***	3.0	0.604^***	97.0	0.428^a
Low academic self-concept	3	5	0.418 (0.189)	(−0.105, 0.942)	0.091⁺	1.9	0.033^***	28.6	0.079	69.6	0.395
Smoking	2	9	0.350 (0.048)	(0.239, 0.461)	<0.001^***	1.4	0.021^***	98.6	0.000	0.0	0.336^a
Drug abuse	7	24	0.340 (0.069)	(0.196, 0.483)	<0.001^***	0.5	0.011^***	27.7	0.028^*	71.8	0.327^a
Alcohol abuse	7	35	0.322 (0.026)	(0.270, 0.375)	<0.001^***	1.1	0.023^***	98.9	0.000	0.0	0.311^a
Other internalizing problems	11	33	0.317 (0.122)	(0.068, 0.565)	0.014^*	0.9	0.008^***	5.0	0.156^***	94.0	0.307^a
Psychiatric symptoms/disorders	5	7	0.313 (0.047)	(0.198, 0.428)	<0.001^***	20.4	0.003	29.2	0.005	50.5	0.303^a
Being a sexual minority	2	7	0.280 (0.079)	(0.086, 0.474)	0.012^*	0.3	0.005^***	36.9	0.008	62.8	0.273^a
Delinquent behavior	7	20	0.258 (0.139)	(−0.032, 0.549)	0.079⁺	0.1	0.019^***	13.4	0.123^**	86.5	0.252
Depression	8	13	0.242 (0.032)	(0.173, 0.311)	<0.001^***	5.8	0.008^***	94.2	0.000	0.0	0.237^b
Low academic achievement	11	22	0.236 (0.049)	(0.135, 0.337)	<0.001^***	1.0	0.024^***	72.4	0.009	26.5	0.232^b
High sexual involvement	2	8	0.233 (0.064)	(0.081, 0.384)	0.008^**	1.2	0.032^***	98.8	0.000	0.0	0.229^b
Showing risky behavior	2	8	0.230 (0.067)	(0.073, 0.388)	0.011^*	0.9	0.003^***	28.1	0.008^*	71.0	0.226^b
Poor physical health	10	57	0.180 (0.042)	(0.097, 0.264)	<0.001^***	0.8	0.010^***	42.5	0.013^***	56.7	0.178^b
Risky coping/personality profile	7	34	0.159 (0.020)	(0.117, 0.200)	<0.001^***	28.9	0.010^***	71.1	0.000	0.0	0.158^c
Not being religious	2	3	0.142 (0.040)	(−0.031, 0.316)	0.072⁺	7.4	0.004^***	92.6	0.000	0.0	0.141
Age (being older)	12	17	0.127 (0.029)	(0.065, 0.189)	<0.001^***	4.5	0.003^***	26.8	0.006	68.7	0.126^c
Anxiety	9	25	0.116 (0.047)	(0.018, 0.214)	0.022^*	3.5	0.007^***	33.8	0.013^***	62.7	0.115^c
High impact/negative life events	4	8	0.112 (0.062)	(−0.033, 0.258)	0.111	0.9	0.026^***	99.1	0.000	0.0	0.112
History of grade retention	1	1	0.100 (0.017)	(0.068, 0.132)	<0.001^***	100.0	–	–	–	–	0.100^c
Low IQ/learning difficulties	5	6	0.099 (0.033)	(0.014, 0.184)	<0.001^***	5.0	0.005	95.0	0.000	0.0	0.099^c
Negative or no leisure activities	4	10	0.081 (0.084)	(−0.110, 0.271)	0.364	7.0	0.005^*	16.2	0.024^*	76.8	0.081
Having a job	2	6	0.071 (0.096)	(−0.177, 0.319)	0.494	0.5	0.005^***	21.2	0.017^*	78.3	0.071
Ethnicity (being non-white)	15	36	0.024 (0.030)	(−0.037, 0.086)	0.431	0.6	0.006^***	43.4	0.008⁺	56.0	0.024
Family domains (#11)
Low parental school involvement	4	12	0.279 (0.108)	(0.042, 0.516)	0.025^*	0.3	0.001^***	1.2	0.045^***	98.5	0.272^a
History of child abuse victimization	4	19	0.263 (0.023)	(0.214, 0.312)	<0.001^***	8.6	0.009^***	91.4	0.000	0.0	0.257^a
Low attachment to parent	1	1	0.224 (0.024)	(0.175, 0.264)	<0.001^***	100.0	–	–	–	–	0.220^b
Large family size	2	2	0.197 (0.120)	(−1.323, 1.717)	0.348	35.6	0.010	32.2	0.010	32.2	0.194
Family structure (no nuclear family)	11	24	0.189 (0.046)	(0.093, 0.285)	<0.001^***	0.5	0.050^***	99.5	0.000	0.0	0.187^b
Parental mental/physical problems	1	3	0.188 (0.040)	(0.017, 0.360)	0.042^*	4.0	0.005^***	96.0	0.000	0.0	0.186^b
Low parental support/acceptance	4	12	0.184 (0.027)	(0.124, 0.245)	<0.001^***	10.1	0.005^***	89.9	0.000	0.0	0.182^b
Low parental education	6	17	0.156 (0.041)	(0.068, 0.243)	0.002^**	2.2	0.011^***	74.6	0.004	23.2	0.155^c
Ineffective family systems	6	15	0.154 (0.071)	(0.001, 0.306)	0.049^*	7.1	0.002	6.7	0.024^**	86.3	0.153^c
Low family SES	20	50	0.135 (0.047)	(0.042, 0.229)	0.005^**	0.8	0.010^***	23.7	0.033^***	75.4	0.134^c
Low parental control	6	16	0.124 (0.028)	(0.064, 0.184)	<0.001^***	3.1	0.004^***	61.8	0.002	35.1	0.123^c
Sibling at school	1	2	0.065 (0.035)	(−0.382, 0.512)	0.315	53.8	0.001	46.2	0.000	0.0	0.065
Parental absenteeism in past	1	1	0.000 (0.200)	(−0.373, 0.373)	1.000	100.0	–	–	–	–	0.000
School domains (#6)
Distance to school (short)	1	3	0.518 (0.228)	(−0.464, 1.500)	0.151	71.1	0.045	28.9	0.000	0.0	0.476
Poor pupil-teacher relationship	6	9	0.294 (0.057)	(0.163, 0.425)	<0.001^***	1.6	0.007^***	33.9	0.013	64.5	0.286^a
education/education	6	21	0.233 (0.094)	(0.037, 0.429)	0.022^*	1.6	0.007^***	13.2	0.047^***	85.2	0.229^b
Negative school/class climate	8	26	0.185 (0.028)	(0.128, 0.242)	<0.001^***	3.6	0.018^***	96.4	0.000	0.0	0.183^b
Public school (vs. private)	1	2	0.098 (0.062)	(−0.688, 0.885)	0.358	9.9	0.007^**	90.1	0.000	0.0	0.098
Large classes/schools	3	6	0.044 (0.110)	(−0.240, 0.328)	0.709	10.3	0.000	0.0	0.027^*	89.7	0.044
Peer domains (#3)
Having many friends	2	3	0.204 (0.149)	(−0.437, 0.846)	0.304	18.0	0.000	0.0	0.038	82.0	0.201
Poor social competence	7	10	0.106 (0.062)	(−0.034, 0.247)	0.120	9.1	0.032^***	90.9	0.000	0.0	0.106
No subculture affiliation	1	1	0.060 (0.027)	(0.008, 0.112)	0.013^*	100.0	–	–	–	–	0.060^c
Being bullied	5	7	0.011 (0.105)	(−0.246, 0.269)	0.919	3.5	0.001	2.9	0.048^*	93.6	0.011

# studies number of studies, # ES number of effect sizes, SE standard error, CI confidence interval, Sig significance, Mean z mean effect size (Fisher’s z), % Var percentage of variance explained, Level 2 variance variance between effect sizes from the same study, Level 3 variance variance between studies, Meanr the correlation coefficient corresponding to the mean effect size z

Risk factors that could not be classified into one of the 44 created risk domains for school absenteeism are presented in italics

⁺p < 0.10; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001

^aSignificant large effect (according to the guidelines of Rice and Harris 2005)

^bSignificant medium effect (according to the guidelines of Rice and Harris 2005)

^cSignificant small effect (according to the guidelines of Rice and Harris 2005)