Students identified with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBDs) often have difficulty with social adjustment and academic achievement, engaging in problem behaviors such as defiance, rule-breaking, and truancy, yet one particularly challenging behavior is aggression. Researchers assert that verbal aggression (VA) is the most frequent form of…

Researchers have found that verbal aggression (VA) is the most frequent form of aggression reported in U.S. schools across all grade levels. There are numerous harmful outcomes for VA perpetrators, victims, and witnesses including depression, anxiety, decreased academic performance, and low sense of school belonging. Moreover, VA is known to…

In this study, critical situations relating to students with emotional and behavioral problems in inclusive German secondary schools were analyzed. The objective was to identify behaviors and behavioral patterns that impede or even terminate the inclusive education of students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Critical situations, their…

Multi-informant reports of student emotional and behavioral problems determine eligibility for school-based services; however, multiple informants often yield inconsistent reports of child concerns. Informant discrepancies are thought to reflect either measurement error or meaningful differences (e.g., situational variation). It is important to…

Verbal aggression (VA) is among the most prevalent forms of problem behavior in schools with detrimental effects for both perpetrators and victims, yet little is known about VA among students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). Accordingly, we surveyed 279 teachers of students with behavioral disorders to examine the prevalence,…

Teachers and students in 54 elementary school classrooms (first, third, and fifth grades) participated in a multi-method longitudinal study of classroom social dynamics. At each of three assessments within a single school year, observers rated teacher-student interaction quality, students completed sociometric assessments and reported on their…

A mixed methods approach was used to identify problem situations in peer and school contexts experienced by urban middle school students with high incidence disabilities that may impact their emotional and behavioral adjustment. A survey and semi-structured interview were conducted with a predominantly African American sample (95%) of 74…

This prospective study found that self-reported attitudes toward peer aggression among 403 middle school students were both internally consistent and stable over time (7 months). Aggressive attitudes were correlated with four outcome criteria for aggressive behavior: student self-report of peer aggression; peer and teacher nominations of bullying;…

This study examines interpersonal competence configurations in relation to students' concurrent behavior problems and social risks for later adjustment difficulties. Participants are 648 (345 girls, 303 boys) fourth-grade students (65% White, 6.9% African American, 19.5% Hispanic, 4.6% Asian, and 4.0% Other) from the suburbs of a major Midwestern…