What are Emotional Behavioral Disorders?
How prevalent are Emotional Behavioral Disorders?
What causes Emotional Behavioral Disorders?
o Home and community factors can include poverty, abuse, neglect, stress, inconsistent expectations and rules, and confusion and turmoil over long periods of time (Smith, D.D., Tyler, N.C., 2010, p.242).
o School-related factors such as teacher-student interactions or a negative or incompatible school environment can also contribute to the development of EBD (Smith, D.D., Tyler, N.C., 2010, p.242).
How are students diagnosed with EBD?
- "The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) defines an emotional or behavioral disorder as exhibiting at least one of the defined characteristic over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a child’s education performance. The defined characteristics are: (a) an inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors; (b) an inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers; (c) inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances; (d) a general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression; (e) a tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems” (Solar,E., 2011, p.41-42).
- Externalizing Behaviors: “behaviors directed towards others (e.g.
aggressive behaviors); externalizing behaviors constitute an acting-out style
that could be described as aggressive, impulsive, coercive, and noncompliant”
(Smith, D.D., Tyler, N.C., 2010, p.230-232). o Conduct disorder: “A psychiatric term describing
acting-out or externalizing behaviors” (Smith, D.D., Tyler, N.C. 2010 p.230).
- Internalizing Behaviors: “Behaviors directed inward (e.g. withdrawn, anxious, lonely, depressed)” (Smith, D.D., Tyler, N.C., 2010, p.232).
o Examples include:
§ Anorexia
§ Bulimia
§ Depression
§ Anxiety disorders - Low-Incidence/Comorbidity Disorders: “disorders that occur very infrequently in school-aged children, but are quite serious when they do occur” (Smith, D.D., Tyler, N.C., 2010, p.234); these disorder are often "comorbid" or occur alongside other Emotional Behavioral Disorders. o Examples include:
§ Schizophrenia
§ Dissociative Identity Disorder
§ Bipolar Disorder
How prevalent are Emotional Behavioral Disorders?
- approximately 1% of school aged children are currently identified as having an Emotional Behavioral Disorder (Smith, D.D., Tyler, N.C., 2010, p.239).
- This is believed to be an under-representation of the number of children with EBD. Professionals suggest that between 3 and 6% of all school aged children are actually living with an Emotional Behavioral Disorder (Smith, D.D., Tyler, N.C., 2010, p.239).
- Identification of students with EBD is not consistently represented among all demographics: males are more likely to be identified as having EBD because they tend to express externalizing behaviors, whereas girls tend to have internalizing behaviors; Asian Americans and Latina/Latino students are under-represented, whereas African Americans are over-represented (Smith, D.D., Tyler, N.C., 2010, p.240).
What causes Emotional Behavioral Disorders?
- While there is no specific cause linked to EBD, there are certain factors that can contribute to the development of EBD.
o Home and community factors can include poverty, abuse, neglect, stress, inconsistent expectations and rules, and confusion and turmoil over long periods of time (Smith, D.D., Tyler, N.C., 2010, p.242).
o School-related factors such as teacher-student interactions or a negative or incompatible school environment can also contribute to the development of EBD (Smith, D.D., Tyler, N.C., 2010, p.242).
How are students diagnosed with EBD?
- Early Identification: Screening -- Some schools offer screening for all students to determine if any students exhibit "soft signs" or early symptoms of EBD, allowing the school to provide supports for these students as prevention of EBD development (Smith, D.D., Tyler, N.C., 2010, p.247-248).
- Prereferral: Early Intervention -- General education teacher provides individualized supports for all students (Smith, D.D., Tyler, N.C., 2010, p.248).
- Identification -- If students need more supports than general education teacher can provide, the student may be assessed for special education services upon receiving parental or guardian permission. A team of multidisciplinary professionals will interpret assessment results and determine if the student qualifies for special education services for EBD as specified through an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) (Smith, D.D., Tyler, N.C., 2010, p.248-249).