Cross-Cultural Perspectives on School Absenteeism: Comparative Profiles from Italy, Spain, and Turkey

The assessment of the school absenteeism in the world highlights a concerning situation in Southern Europe in terms of attendance problems, particularly in Italy (60.8%), Spain (28.3%), and Turkey (53.2%). These differences underscore the importance of cross-country comparisons, as prevalence rates vary due to cultural, geographical, and methodological factors given the large number of parameters that are used in each country to measure these school attendance problems. Consequently, this study investigates school absenteeism profiles across Italy, Spain and Turkey using the ARSNA instrument, focusing on truancy (TR) and school refusal (SR) dimensions. Four distinct profiles were identified: Non-school absenteeism, Truancy, School refusal and Mixed school absenteeism profiles. Cross-national differences were observed, with the Truancy profile being more prevalent in Turkey and the School refusal profile in Spain, although these differences were not statistically significant. Gender differences were only significant in Italy, where girls showed higher proportions in School Refusal-related profiles. These findings contribute to a better understanding of cross-cultural patterns of school absenteeism and may inform the development of targeted interventions.