Behavioral/Emotional Problems of Children with Serious Emotional Disturbances and Learning Disabilities

The Concurrent Validity of the Devereux Scales of Mental Disorders

The present study was designed as an initial investigation of the concurrent validity of the Devereux Scales of Mental Disorders (DSMD; Naglieri, LeBuffe, & Pfeiffer, 1994) in relation to the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC) and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) in two clinically referred samples of children and adolescents. The DSMD is a recently published multidimensional behavior rating scale comprised of empirically and conceptually derived scales designed to aid the diagnostic decision-making process for youth with severe psychiatric and educational classifications. To date, no published study has examined the concurrent validity of the DSMD. The first of the present studies compared the DSMD and BASC with 64 children and adolescents in an inpatient hospital setting; the second study compared the DSMD and CBCL with 74 children and adolescents classified as having serious emotional disturbance (SED) in residential care. Concurrent validity was assessed through correlations and squared semipartial correlation coefficients between the DSMD scale scores and the BASC and CBCL scale scores. Paired t tests (p < .001) were also computed across scales of similar constructs. In comparison to the BASC and CBCL, the DSMD demonstrated strong concurrent validity between conceptually similar scales, providing some evidence for the concurrent validity of the DSMD. Specifically, relative to the other measures, the DSMD appears to have some unique scales designed to detect more acute or serious pathology, whereas the BASC and CBCL may be better equipped to assess specific types of externalizing symptoms.

Interrater Reliability of the Devereux Behavior Rating Scale-School Form: the Influence of Teacher Frame of Reference

Low interrater reliability coefficients are a common problem for behavior rating scales. One hypothesis to account for this is that raters have different frames of reference from which to judge behaviors. In the present study, the interrater reliability of the Devereux Behavior Rating Scale-School Form was examined, and the hypothesis that teacher frame of reference influences ratings was explored. Special and general education teachers rated the behavior of 51 children with emotional disturbance (ED), and general education teachers inde pendently rated the behavior of 51 matched control children. Interrater reliability coeffi cients were higher for the general education sample than for the sample of children with ED. Limited support was found for the hypoth esis that frame of reference may affect ratings. Findings suggest that many factors influence ratings and that teachers may benefit from rater training.

Specific learning difficulties: a retrospective study of their co morbidity and continuity as early indicators of mental disorders

BACKGROUND

Specific Learning difficulties constitute a continuity of complex disorders, which unfold across the lifespan and are associated with a wide range of mental disorders. In order to determine the importance of specific learning difficulties as an underlying factor in various mental disorders, we investigated associations between mental disorders and factors related to learning difficulties, poor family and school environment, and social and psycho-emotional disorders.

METHODS

This retrospective study is based on data from 835 case histories of adults who were treated at the Psychiatric Clinic of the University Hospital in Ioannina, Greece, between 1992 and 2008. The examination of the early (co-)occurrence of specific disorders was based on the ICD-10 classification of mental disorders. LogLinear analysis showed that all models retained 2nd or 3rd order effects with p-values >0.8 for all estimated likelihood ratios.

RESULTS

Patients with specific learning difficulties, who grew up in a socially disturbed environment, and manifested behavioral problems (aggression, alcoholism, and isolation or running away from home) were found to be more frequently diagnosed with schizophrenia than with any other mental disorder. In some cases, the profiles of these patients also included family problems such as parental loss or alcoholism.

CONCLUSIONS

Significant association between learning and other disorders in adult psychiatric patients' developmental profile has been indicated. Furthermore, a specific association between specific learning difficulties, environmental problems, and schizophrenia corroborates the continuity and complexity of these disorders at higher developmental stages. The results from this study can be utilized in the study of mental disorder etiology, raising the possibility that the early treatment of the learning or other disorders could reduce children's likelihood of developing mental disorders in adulthood.

Teachers' perceptions of remediation possibilities of Dutch students in special education

BACKGROUND

Research suggests that referral practices of teachers in regular education are not only affected by the level of learning difficulties but also by student behaviour and the level of students' parental involvement in education. It was hypothesized that teachers maintain a notion of the 'ideal' student, who has relatively good academic skills, is well behaved and has highly involved parents.

AIMS

The main question of this study was whether special-education teachers' perceptions regarding remediation possibilities are similarly affected by student behaviour and the level of students' parental involvement.

SAMPLE

Nineteen experienced Dutch school teachers in special education each evaluated four students: two with relatively high and two with relatively low academic performance.

METHODS

Three questionnaires to assess learning difficulties, behavioural problems and the level of parental involvement were developed.

RESULTS

Teachers' perceptions of remediation possibilities were related to the severity of the learning difficulties and academic skill. Academic skill, in turn, was strongly related to the perception of the children's behavioural problems and parental involvement, which, in turn, links the perception of remediation possibilities indirectly to children's behavioural problems and parental involvement.

CONCLUSIONS

Special education teachers may also hold an image of the 'ideal' student. Students with high academic achievement levels are perceived as having fewer behavioural problems and more highly involved parents than students with low academic achievement levels. Whether this is due to justified or unjustified teachers' perceptions is a matter for future research. What is important is that stereotyping of students (justly or not) poses a serious problem for the Dutch reintegration policy.

Psychiatric comorbidity in learning disorder: analysis of family variables

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to evaluate the role of parental relational styles on the development of psychopathological disturbances in children with Learning Disability (LD).

METHOD

Fifty-six children aged 7-12 diagnosed with LD were evaluated on the basis of the Children Behaviour Check List (CBCL) completed by parents. Parents completed an Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ) and a family relationships internal representations questionnaire (Family Attitudes Questionnaire, FAQ). Multiple regressions were performed, using parental FAQ and ASQ scores as predictors and children's CBCL scores as criterion

RESULTS

Sixty percent of children in the sample obtained a clinical score in at least one of the two syndrome groups. Internalizing behavior in children was predicted by father's Relationships as Secondary and mother's Need for Approval and Preoccupation with Relationships scores. Externalizing behavior was predicted by both father and mother's Need for Approval scores.

CONCLUSIONS

Insecure attachment styles in parents appeared associated with maladaptive emotional-behavioral strategies in their children and may be interpreted as a risk factor for the development of the latter. More specifically, internalizing behavior in children appeared associated with dimensions pointing to dismissing attachment in fathers and to preoccupied attachment in mothers, while externalizing behavior appeared associated with dimensions indicating preoccupied attachment in both parents. Possible interpretations of these data within the LD population are put forward.

Use of the Devereux Scales of Mental Disorders for Children and Adolescents with Emotional Disturbance

The present study was designed to investigate the discriminant validity of the Devereux Scales of Mental Disorders (DSMD; Naglieri, LeBuffe, & Pfeiffer, 1994) in relation to a widely used behavior rating scale, the Teacher Report Form (TRF; Achenbach, 1991), in children and adolescents with emotional disturbance (ED). A matched sample of 148 children and adolescents, 74 in regular education and 74 in special education settings for ED, were rated by teachers using the DSMD and TRF. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) analyses and d-ratios yielded statistically significant differences ( p < .01) between groups and moderate to large effect sizes. Receiver operator characteristic analyses indicated that in general the TRF produced higher area under the curve (AUC) estimates than the DSMD across age groups for the total and composite scale scores. Classification efficiency statistics at the recommended cutoff T-score of 60 for the total scale revealed that the DSMD performed as well as the TRF. Results generalized well across base rates, with the DSMD producing slightly higher positive predictive power than the TRF, and the TRF exhibiting a greater negative predictive power than the DSMD.

Social perception of the development of disabled children

BACKGROUND

This experiment extends our study of perception of the disabled from the realm of personality into child development to determine if our results, which reveal prejudice against disabled adults, apply to perceptions of a toddler's development.

METHODS

Participants watched a video of either a disabled or a non-disabled toddler in sessions conducted by either a disabled or a non-disabled experimenter. Participants rated the target using the Achenbach Caregiver-Teacher Report Form for ages 1.5-5 years twice: first, each participant imagined being the caregiver of the toddler at age 4 years (self-rating), and then the participant envisioned how a typical childcare provider would rate the target (other-rating).

RESULTS

Data revealed an interaction between the experimenter's disability and the source of ratings. For the disabled experimenter, participants thought that "others" would perceive more behavioural problems than they themselves do. For the non-disabled experimenter, participants rated the disabled target more pessimistically in both the self- and other-ratings.

CONCLUSION

As we found in our first study of disabled adults, our current results reveal subtle prejudice against disabled children.

Emotional security with teachers and children's stress reactivity: a comparison of special-education and regular-education classrooms

Examined children's exposure and reactivity to negative peer and teacher events in special-education and regular-education classrooms. Participants were 40 children in regular classrooms and 20 children classified as seriously emotionally disturbed (SED) in special-education classrooms. Children completed 7 days of diary data over the course of the school year. SED children reported higher rates of exposure to negative teacher and peer events than comparison children. The self-esteem of both SED and comparison children was reactive to negative peer events in the classroom, but emotional security with teacher (EST) reduced this reactivity. The self-esteem of SED children was also reactive to negative teacher events but, EST, once again, reduced reactivity to negative events. Finally, SED children's perception of maternal warmth moderated their self-esteem reactivity and was concordant with their views of teachers. Results are discussed in light of treatment implications for SED children.

Behavioral and emotional problems of students with learning disabilities, serious emotional disturbance, or both conditions

This study investigates the behavioral and emotional problems of children with learning disabilities (LD), serious emotional disturbance (SED), and LD/SED, using the Teacher Report Form (TRF) and Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). The sample consisted of 217 students with LD, 72 with SED, and 68 with SED/LD, ages 6 to 18 (mean age = 11.5). The students with SED were rated more impaired than the students with LD on all TRF scales except Attention Problems, and on three of the eight CBCL syndrome scales. The children with LD differed from those with SED mainly in terms of severity of problems, not with respect to type of problem. It is concluded that students with co-morbid LD and SED are underidentified and underserved in special education systems.

The concomitance of learning disabilities and emotional/behavioral disorders: a conceptual model

Although research has documented overlapping and coexisting characteristics of learning disabilities and emotional/behavioral disorders, little attention has been paid to the subset of students who manifest symptoms of both disorders (LD/EBD). This gap in our professional knowledge/research base may be due to (a) exclusive language in federal definitions that promotes differentiation of disabilities rather than recognition of symptom overlap; (b) the lack of a conceptual model of concomitant learning and emotional/behavioral disorders; and (c) the absence of a research focus on this population. In this article, we construct a conceptual model involving six critical domains of relevance to students with LD/EBD. After describing the utility of this interactive and functional model, we highlight critical issues in screening, assessment, and programming for children with concomitant LD/EBD.