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Social support as a buffer against mental health problems among persistent truants: Evidence from a large-scale population survey

Kaya, Gökhan LU orcid and Bask, Miia (2026) In International Journal of Social Welfare 35(3).
Abstract
Previous research has reported mental health disparities between truant and non-truant adolescents. However, it remains unclear how social support is associated with mental health outcomes across different levels of truancy. We investigate whether social support has similar mental health benefits for all truant adolescents or whether it plays a buffering/moderating role when truancy becomes persistent. Using data from the 2021 Swedish Public Health Survey of Children and Young People (n = 16,102; grades 9 and 11) during the COVID-19 pandemic, we estimate average marginal effects from OLS and logistic regression models. Results show that persistent truants report more psychosomatic complaints and are more prone to social media disorder and... (More)
Previous research has reported mental health disparities between truant and non-truant adolescents. However, it remains unclear how social support is associated with mental health outcomes across different levels of truancy. We investigate whether social support has similar mental health benefits for all truant adolescents or whether it plays a buffering/moderating role when truancy becomes persistent. Using data from the 2021 Swedish Public Health Survey of Children and Young People (n = 16,102; grades 9 and 11) during the COVID-19 pandemic, we estimate average marginal effects from OLS and logistic regression models. Results show that persistent truants report more psychosomatic complaints and are more prone to social media disorder and self-harm than occasional or non-truants, but these differences diminish substantially when they perceive higher social support. The results have implications for when and how social interventions may protect persistent truants' mental health. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
adolescence, COVID -19, mental health, Sweden, truancy, social support
in
International Journal of Social Welfare
volume
35
issue
3
article number
e70084
pages
19 pages
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • scopus:105043692913
ISSN
1369-6866
DOI
10.1111/ijsw.70084
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
2a7c6d91-106f-414d-bbfa-1fee4b15d5c1
date added to LUP
2026-06-02 13:58:50
date last changed
2026-09-02 04:01:41
@article{2a7c6d91-106f-414d-bbfa-1fee4b15d5c1,
  abstract     = {{Previous research has reported mental health disparities between truant and non-truant adolescents. However, it remains unclear how social support is associated with mental health outcomes across different levels of truancy. We investigate whether social support has similar mental health benefits for all truant adolescents or whether it plays a buffering/moderating role when truancy becomes persistent. Using data from the 2021 Swedish Public Health Survey of Children and Young People (n = 16,102; grades 9 and 11) during the COVID-19 pandemic, we estimate average marginal effects from OLS and logistic regression models. Results show that persistent truants report more psychosomatic complaints and are more prone to social media disorder and self-harm than occasional or non-truants, but these differences diminish substantially when they perceive higher social support. The results have implications for when and how social interventions may protect persistent truants' mental health.}},
  author       = {{Kaya, Gökhan and Bask, Miia}},
  issn         = {{1369-6866}},
  keywords     = {{adolescence; COVID -19; mental health; Sweden; truancy; social support}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{07}},
  number       = {{3}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Social Welfare}},
  title        = {{Social support as a buffer against mental health problems among persistent truants: Evidence from a large-scale population survey}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ijsw.70084}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/ijsw.70084}},
  volume       = {{35}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}