Compared with attention to dropping out (Epstein & Sheldon, 2002, 308) and despite of prevalence and negative outcomes of truancy (Pomeroy, 1999, 466) very little is done to understand truant behaviour in order to prevent it (Hunt & Hopko, 2009, 550; Veenstra, Lindenberg, Tinga, & Ormel, 2010, 302). Many school-level intervention programs are generally initiated after students have lost valuable learning time (Hunt & Hopko, 2009, 550). In this exploratory study we consider truancy as a problematic interaction between a student and environment (see Bronfenbrenner, 1979). As was evidenced by van der Aa and his colleagues 45% of the variance in liability to truancy was accounted for by genetic and 55% by environmental influences (van der Aa, Rebollo-Mesa, Willemsen, Boomsma, & Bartels, 2009, 584). Theoretical framework of the study is derived form the concept of school engagement. It is a multidimensional concept which is often divided into three components. Affective component covers good relationships to teachers and classmates and the sense of belonging. Behavioral component is described in terms of good behavior, persistence and participation. Cognitive component reflects person’s values, motivation, self-regulation and learning styles. (Fredricks, Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2004, 59-61; Glanville & Wildhagen, 2007; Libbey, 2004, 274.) Hence we consider truancy as a warning sign of school disengagement.

In the present study we describe the characteristics, school experiences, and home factors associated with truancy. The objective is to identify predictors of different categories of truancy with the long-term goals to utilize the knowledge to better identify high-risk students and promote empirically-based interventions. The main research question was: “What individual, home and school variables predict non-truant, occasionally truant and persistently truant behaviour in Finnish secondary schools (grades 7-9)?”. Three factors were expected to influence on truant behaviour: school engagement, school burnout and self-esteem. School attendance is often seen as the most important indicator of being engaged, and, for some students, absenteeism represents disengagement in education (Pellerin, 2005, 284). Lowered self-esteem is also related to attendance problems (Englander, 1986) whereas burnout is relatively new concept in the school context (Salmela-Aro, Kiuru, Pietikäinen, & Jokela, 2008, 12). It was hypothesized that low level of school engagement and self-esteem are related with truanting behaviour as well as high level of school burnout.

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