What drives EBSA across contexts? evidence from China using BERTopic.

Emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA) has been extensively studied in Western contexts, yet little is known about its manifestation in non-Western settings. This study applies BERTopic and semantic network analysis to 60,000 counseling-based narratives from Chinese adolescents to examine the psychological, familial, school, and systemic factors underlying EBSA. The analysis identified seven thematic domains: anxiety-driven symptoms, sensory overload, family conflict, peer and teacher difficulties, post-COVID adjustment, systemic barriers, and loss of belonging. These results validate the cross-contextual relevance of established EBSA constructs while also revealing institutional challenges unique to the Chinese context. Methodologically, the study demonstrates how computational text analysis can extend qualitative inquiry to large-scale, culturally grounded data. Substantively, it advances EBSA research by integrating individual, relational, and systemic dimensions, offering both cross-cultural insights and practical implications. The findings suggest that Chinese schools should strengthen teacher-student trust, foster collaborative family-school partnerships, and adopt systemic, preventive strategies to reduce EBSA and promote student well-being.