Teachers today work in classrooms where a large proportion of students have mental health disorders. Yet, because these teachers lack training in mental health issues, they often react to these students in ways that cause them to shut down or escalate their aggressive behavior. Other teachers, however, seem to intuitively understand how to connect…

When students with disabilities become agitated and physically aggressive, school resource officers (SROs) are often called to assist. This article addresses the question, "What is the role of the SRO when dealing with children who already have a behavior intervention plan (BIP) in place?" Faced with an increased presence of law…

Preventing and responding to intense problem behavior in schools has garnered increased attention. With recent attention focused on the restraint and seclusion of students with disabilities, educators are in need of effective ways to respond to student escalations that result in severe, disruptive problem behavior. By combining the research-based…

There is a longstanding and pressing challenge regarding overuse of exclusionary discipline (e.g., office discipline referrals, suspensions) for students of color and students with disabilities. Moreover, many common efforts to address the problem have not been shown to enhance equity in school discipline. This article describes a promising…

This study was designed to examine the effects of literacy-based behavioural interventions (Bucholz et al., 2008) to decrease acts of physical aggression with kindergarten and first grade students. The study used a multiple baseline design across three participants. The results showed a decrease in acts of physical aggression by students with…

This report describes the occurrence of discipline referrals and corresponding interventions and consequences used by schools for harassment, intimidation, or bullying behaviors during the 2015-2016 school year. Using data entered into the West Virginia Education Information System (WVEIS), two sets of analyses were conducted--one focusing on…

Bullying in elementary schools is a recognized and widespread occurrence that threatens to rob children of their childhood. Part I of this commentary describes existing scientifically-based research on the nature, extent and effects of the phenomenon on children in United States schools. Part II analyzes the effectiveness of bullying prevention…

International research indicates that children with disabilities are more exposed to negative parenting than their non-disabled peers. The mechanisms behind this increased risk are likely operating at the levels of the individual child, the family and the broader social context. The present study investigated harsh parenting practices using…

Objective: Impaired social functioning is common among youth with bipolar disorder (BD), emerges in multiple settings, and persists over time. However, little is known about factors associated with poor peer and family functioning in the early-onset form of BD. Using a sample of adolescents with BD I or II, we examined which symptoms of BD,…

Problem behaviour continues to present a challenge for school-teachers worldwide. Since school-teachers around the globe have different conceptualisations of what constitutes problem behaviour, the purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of Zimbabwean school-teachers about their perceived causes of problem behaviour among students in…

Objective: A callous-unemotional (CU) subtype of conduct disorder (CD) has been proposed as an addition to the fifth edition of the "Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5)." This study tested the hypothesis that young girls with the CU subtype of CD would exhibit more severe antisocial behavior and less severe internalizing…

The presence of challenging and violent behaviors that pose risks to the overall safety and the educational learning experience in the public education setting have been on the rise in recent years. Traditional reactive, coercive, and punitive measures to address these behaviors have been futile. Congress responded to the national increase in…

Maternal ratings of explosiveness, opposition, and aggression were analyzed in 1609 children 6-16 years of age. Behavior problems were common in autism, ADHD-Combined type, and depression, whereas children with ADHD-Inattentive type, anxiety disorder, and acquired brain injury did not differ from typical controls. More than 40% of children with…

Research on school social dynamics suggests that antisocial behavior is often supported by peer group processes particularly during late childhood and adolescence. Building from a social interactional framework, this article explores how information on the social functions of aggressive and disruptive behavior may help to guide function-based…

Background: The literature regarding the use of restraint and seclusion in schools is scant, perhaps due to the controversial nature of the topic. With few exceptions, schools have not published policies or data regarding these procedures even when doing so would further the discussion about standards for staff training, student safety, and…