Anxious at school? Who, why, and what helps?

Anxiety is a mental health condition that affects many children and young people, but it has a disproportionate impact on neurodivergent children and young people (NCYP). One major impact of anxiety is on education, so much so that it can contribute to school refusal. NCYP experience many barriers to education, and outcomes tend to be poorer for this group. Understanding the role of anxiety in the educational experiences of NCYP must be a priority for supporting these pupils to achieve their best. The aim of my PhD will be to understand who experiences anxiety at school, why they are anxious, and what can be done to reduce their anxiety. Study 1 will show who is most at risk for anxiety at school and school refusal in a large sample of neurotypical and NCYP pupils, comparing anxious attenders to school refusers. Study 2 will investigate why NCYP are anxious at school using a multi-methods and multi-informant approach including looking at psychological predictors of school anxiety, qualitative interviews with NCYP on their experiences of anxiety at school, and a survey for their parents/teachers. To understand what can be done to reduce anxiety at school I will again focus on the voices of NCYP in Study 3. This research will place the voices of NCYP at the heart of the project, both in terms of shapingthe research design through a youth advisory panel and by focusing on the experiences of NCYP who are anxious at school.