Background: Symptoms of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) can interfere with optimal psychosocial functioning of adolescents, including school functioning. School functioning can be broadly conceptualized as involving attendance, academic performance, and participation in academic and extracurricular activities. However, previous research has largely examined the impact of IBD on school attendance. The present study aimed to describe school attendance, performance, and participation in a sample of adolescents with IBD and to examine demographic and disease-related correlates of poorer school functioning.
Methods: One-hundred sixty-one adolescent-parent dyads (M [SD] adolescent age = 14.5 [1.9] years, 43% female) completed questionnaires assessing demographics, school attendance, performance, and participation. Clinical disease activity was rated by physicians at the time of study enrollment.
Results: Difficulties with school attendance were reported, with nearly three-quarters of participants reporting school absences due to visits with doctors or hospitalizations and just under half of the sample reporting general school absences and missing school due to not feeling well. In bivariate analyses, older age was associated with poorer school performance and participation, whereas greater disease activity was associated with poorer school attendance. In regression analyses, greater disease activity and older age emerged as the most salient predictors of poorer school attendance. Older age also emerged as the most salient predictor of school performance and participation.
Conclusions: Demographic factors and age in particular were more consistent predictors of school functioning than disease factors. Special attention to older youth and those with active disease may be important to ensure optimal school functioning.