The mean academic score of subjects with high degree of school absence (60.57 ± 18.13) was lower than that in those with low degree of school absence (66.26 ± 21.19).
The distribution of subjects and controls by degree of school absence is shown in Figure 1.
During the meeting, details were provided about the aims of the study, the invitation and measurement procedures, the degree of school involvement required, and potential benefits of participation.
For boys, high degree of school wellbeing was strongly linked to their enjoyment in school work and to their experience of receiving necessary help from teachers; and for girls, low degree of school wellbeing was strongly related to feeling bothered in class.
The highest degree of school education was primary school for 37.0% (n = 148), secondary school for 4.8% (n = 19), apprenticeship for 5.5% (n = 22), university for 0.3% (n = 1) and 52.5% (n = 210) were without any school degree.
A possible limitation of this study is the wide inclusion criteria and no a priori-definition of the degree of school absenteeism necessary to fulfil the diagnostic criteria, which might have obscured results applying to a subgroup only.
In this cross-sectional study among school children, high scores on variables that are assumed to promote school wellbeing were associated with higher degree of wellbeing in school, and high scores on variables thought to be perceived as problematic for the children, were related to lower degree of school wellbeing.
In a multivariable analysis, degree of school wellbeing in boys was strongly and positively related to enjoying school work (odds ratio, 3.84, 95% CI 2.38 to 6.22) and receiving necessary help (odds ratio, 3.55, 95% CI 2.17 to 5.80) from teachers.
The high-population municipalities include the goods-producing municipalities and thus are likely characterised by a high degree of schooling related to associated vocational programmes, such as Vehicles and Technology.
Finally, the degree of schools' autonomy towards educational resources and the implementation of curricula and the frequency of assessments were school-related confounders, the former with a positive effect whilst the latter represents a negative confounder.
