The association between child and adolescent emotional disorder and poor attendance at school: a systematic review protocol.
BACKGROUND
Anxiety and depression are common in young people and are associated with a range of adverse outcomes. Research has suggested a relationship between emotional disorder and poor school attendance, and thus poor attendance may serve as a red flag for children at risk of emotional disorder. This systematic review aims to investigate the association between child and adolescent emotional disorder and poor attendance at school.


METHODS
We will search electronic databases from a variety of disciplines including medicine, psychology, education and social sciences, as well as sources of grey literature, to identify any quantitative studies that investigate the relationship between emotional disorder and school attendance. Emotional disorder may refer to diagnoses of mood or anxiety disorders using standardised diagnostic measures, or measures of depression, anxiety or "internalising symptoms" using a continuous scale. Definitions for school non-attendance vary, and we aim to include any relevant terminology, including attendance, non-attendance, school refusal, school phobia, absenteeism and truancy. Two independent reviewers will screen identified papers and extract data from included studies. We will assess the risk of bias of included studies using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Random effects meta-analysis will be used to pool quantitative findings when studies use the same measure of association, otherwise a narrative synthesis approach will be used.


DISCUSSION
This systematic review will provide a detailed synthesis of evidence regarding the relationship between childhood emotional disorder and poor attendance at school. Understanding this relationship has the potential to assist in the development of strategies to improve the identification of and intervention for this vulnerable group.


SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION
PROSPERO CRD42016052961.
['Finning|Katie|K|0000-0001-5774-5837', 'Moore|Darren|D|', 'Ukoumunne|Obioha C|OC|', 'Danielsson-Waters|Emilia|E|', 'Ford|Tamsin|T|']
D000041:Absenteeism D000293:Adolescent D000294:Adolescent Behavior D001008:Anxiety Disorders D002648:Child D002652:Child Behavior D006801:Humans D019964:Mood Disorders D012574:Schools D000078202:Systematic Reviews as Topic
Adolescents Emotional disorder Anxiety Depression School attendance Children School refusal Absenteeism