FREE QUIZ: IS MY CHILD EXPERIENCING EBSA?

There's a difference between not wanting to go to school and not being able to. This quiz helps you work out which one you're dealing with.

Answer a few quick questions about what you've been seeing in your child, and get a clearer picture of whether it fits emotionally based school avoidance, plus what's likely contributing to it. Takes a few minutes.

Your child keeps saying they'll try tomorrow. Then tomorrow comes, and something changes between waking up and needing to leave the house.

Emotionally based school avoidance, or EBSA, is a specific pattern, and it's different from separation anxiety, from a child simply not wanting to go, or from a particularly hard few weeks. Recognising whether what you're seeing fits that pattern changes how you respond, and what kind of support actually helps.

The quiz takes a few minutes. You'll come away with a clearer picture of what you're dealing with than you went in with.

WHAT THE QUIZ COVERS

A few quick questions about the pattern you've been noticing: the physical symptoms, the distress, and how your child seems at home compared with at school. By the end, you'll have:

• A clear picture of whether what you're seeing fits EBSA, and how closely.

• Specific flags for anything that might be contributing, including friendship difficulties, academic pressure, sensory overwhelm, or a clear trigger.

• A starting point for what kind of support makes the most sense for where you are right now.

It's not a diagnostic tool and won't give you a clinical verdict, but it will give you some clarity, and probably a clearer set of words for something you've been struggling to describe.

ABOUT DR. CAROLYNE

I'm Dr. Carolyne, a Registered and Chartered Psychologist specialising in teen mental health, anxiety, and emotionally based school avoidance.

I've talked about EBSA on BBC Radio 5 Live, in The Times and even in workplaces, and "is this EBSA?" is still the question parents ask me most often. This quiz exists because of how often I hear it!

If you're ready, the quiz is free and takes a few minutes.