Developing a School Attendance Reason Scale and its relationship with Chinese students’ school adjustment

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to validate the Chinese School Attendance Reason Scale (CSARS) for assessing junior high students’ reasons for school attendance and examine the relationship between school attendance and school adjustment among Chinese students. Participants included three independent samples of 1,235 students from four Chinese provinces. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses indicated a four-factor scale: external pressure, norm, school attractiveness, and habit. The CSARS’ measurement invariance was generally supported, and test–retest reliability and predictive validity were examined. A multiple regression analysis was also conducted with each school attendance subscale as an independent variable, and school adjustment as the dependent variable. Since external pressure and school attractiveness strongly influence school adjustment, school support services should address these variables.

KEYWORDS:

• Chinese junior high school students
• external pressure
• school adjustment
• school attendance reason
• scale development

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Shanghai Academy of Educational Sciences for assistance in data collection, and a special thanks to the Rotary Yoneyama Memorial Foundation for offering the Yoneyama Scholarship.

We also appreciate the support we received from our university. Last, but not least, we are thankful for the financial support received in 2016 and 2017 from the University of Tsukuba Study Abroad Support Programs.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yansong Wang

Yansong Wang is a doctoral candidate at the University of Tsukuba in Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences. Her research interest includes student mental health.

Ichiko Shoji

Ichiko Shoji, PhD, is a professor and director of the Doctoral Program in Human Care Science at the University of Tsukuba in Japan. Her research interests are in educational and clinical psychology, school psychology, and developmental psychology.