In today's climate, the mental health of children is becoming a much bigger concern than ever before. Unfortunately, it takes very tragic and scary events to bring it to the forefront where it belongs. The fact is, many mental disorders spark in childhood or adolescence, yet may go undiagnosed and untreated for years.
When referencing mental disorders, there is usually an "umbrella" term used. It might be something like emotional disturbance, behavioral disorders, or mental illness. Beneath these umbrella terms, there is actually a very wide range of specific conditions that differ from one another in their characteristics and treatment.
How Emotional Disorders Are Defined
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According to The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) act of 2004, an emotional disturbance is a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a child's educational performance:
- An inability to learn, which cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors.
- An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers.
- Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances.
- A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression.
- A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems.
- Emotional disturbance also includes schizophrenia.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, the term, emotional disturbance does not apply to children who are socially maladjusted. It needs to be determined that they have an emotional disturbance.
Emotional Behavioral Disorder (EBD) can be subjective. That simply means that the child may act differently at school versus at home. It also depends on the tolerance level of the individual who is classifying the child. However, according to Texas State University Special Education there are only two ways of classifying EBD, statistically derived and clinically derived.
- Statistically derived: When EBD is viewed as a cluster of extreme forms of typical behaviors and emotions. Classification is determined by how much an individual differs in rate and frequency from the typical population in the same age group.
- Clinically derived: EBD is determined through the work of psychologists who observe how certain patterns of behavior occur regularly among certain groups of people.
Characteristics Of Children With EBD
According to Science and Education, the characteristics of children with EBD will vary from child to child, but may include:
Behavioral characteristics:
- Externalizing behaviors (defiance, aggression, and noncompliance)
- Internalizing behaviors (anxiety disorders, and/or depression)
- Social withdrawal
- Attention deficits
- Lacking social skills
Cognitive and Learning Characteristics:
- Low to low average IQ.
- 58.6% of children with EBD drop out of school.
Demographics Of Children With EBD
- 69% of school-aged children in the United States have been diagnosed with EBD
- 7.6% of students with disabilities have been diagnosed with EBD
- 80% of students with EBD are male
- 50% of students with EBD receive medication
Causes Of Emotional Behavioral Disorder
- Biological: The brain is often the root source of developing EBD. For instance, there may be a chemical imbalance. Other times, brain development is affected, or a brain injury leads to problems in the emotional center of the brain. A child who has experienced trauma may have negative processing in the brain that can lead to emotional and behavioral problems. Issues with the mother's pregnancy and delivery can [very unintentionally] cause damage to an unborn or newborn baby. These difficulties can contribute to future emotional and behavioral disorders. Additionally, if a child's mother used drugs or alcohol during pregnancy, the child is at increased risk of many physical and mental health problems, including emotional and behavioral disorders.
- Developmental: Development refers to the lifelong process of growing and changing. When a child's development is disrupted and/or problematic, there can be issues with mental health and cognitive growth.
- Home environment-related: The home environment tends to be where most cases of EBD stem from if not biological. Things like abuse, addiction, lack of structure, neglect, violence, and more.
- Learned: Sometimes, there are no underlying biological or developmental causes of emotional and behavioral disorders. Some children simply learn that having an outburst will get them what they want and need, like the attention of adults.
Identification & Assessment Of EBD
- Screening: Teachers informally observe students for EBD characteristics, however, as mentioned, due to the different tolerance levels of different teachers, this can be subjective. Teachers can also use commercially designed programs to monitor the behavior and compare it to "typical behavioral standards and expectations."
- Identifying: Students who have been identified as having possible EBD will be referred to a team of experts and education leaders for further evaluation. This team will use observation and assessment to gather more information.
The two most common assessment methods are:
- Behavior Oriented Methods: Behavior rating scales
- Personality Oriented Methods: These are used in clinical settings to document how a child thinks, behaves, and feels through different situations over time.
Instructional/Behavioral Planning: The Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) is an assessment used to determine the triggers of a child's behavior and how to help the child reduce inappropriate behaviors.
Sources: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, U.S. Department of Education, Texas State University Special Education, Science and Education, Functional Behavioral Assessment