What Can We Do? An Action Research of Precise Psychological Support for Parents of School-Refusing Adolescents

Authors

  • Linyan Ruan

    Teachers' College, Beijing Union University, Beijing 100011, China

    Learning and Psychological Development Institution for Children and Adolescents, Beijing Union University, Beijing 100011, China

  • Yanming Ren

    Faculty of Heath and Wellness, City University of Macau, Macau 999078, China

  • Haibo Zeng

    School of Economics and Management, Communication University of China, Beijing 100024, China

  • Chune Zhang

    Teachers' College, Beijing Union University, Beijing 100011, China

    Learning and Psychological Development Institution for Children and Adolescents, Beijing Union University, Beijing 100011, China

  • Li He

    Teachers' College, Beijing Union University, Beijing 100011, China

    Learning and Psychological Development Institution for Children and Adolescents, Beijing Union University, Beijing 100011, China

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/jpr.v6i3.6982
Received: 30 June2024 | Revised: 8 July 2024 | Accepted: 20 July 2024 | Published Online: 25 July 2024

Abstract

Nevertheless parents often fall into depression, anxiety, and stress because of their children's school refusal which hinders their children's school reentry on the contrary, they still play primary and critical roles in the school reentry process of school-refusing adolescents. This study aimed to provide targeted psychological support to 274 parents of school-refusing adolescents through an action research through four action cycles. Based on parental needs and cutting-edge research, we underwent four cycles from top-down expert support to peer support for parents of school-refusing adolescents, from intervening in the families of school-refusing adolescents to intervening in the social-ecological system in which these families live, from a single discipline to interdisciplinary exploration, and emphasizing the postmodern psychological philosophy that emphasizes local knowledge. The results are: (1) a warm and peer-support internet we-chat group was established, (2) multi-disciplinary and multi-perspective psychological support and systems with different programs for these parents are figuring out, (3) a more comprehensive social atmosphere without stigmatization are for the phenomenon of school attendance problem are come into being, step by step.

Keywords:

Action research; School refusal; Psychological support; Peer support; Social-ecological system; nterdisciplinary; Local knowledge

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Ruan, L., Ren, Y., Zeng, H., Zhang, C., & He, L. (2024). What Can We Do? An Action Research of Precise Psychological Support for Parents of School-Refusing Adolescents. Journal of Psychological Research, 6(3), 12–32. https://doi.org/10.30564/jpr.v6i3.6982

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