Emotional Disturbance

Serious emotional disturbance (SED) for special education purposes is defined as a condition affecting learning, interpersonal relations, behavior, and feelings. The condition must be exhibited over a long period of time and to a marked degree while adversely affecting educational performance, and it cannot be explainable by intellectual, sensory, or other health factors. There have been three major issues related to the official definition. One was the inclusion of autistic children who were later excluded. Second is the exclusion of socially maladjusted children from service unless they otherwise meet the definition for SED. This exclusion continues to be an issue. Finally, there has been much debate about the label. Many states and professional groups have adopted the label emotional/behavior disorder (EBD) as both more descriptive and inclusive.

George Albee, in a 1968 address before the National Association for Mental Health, discussed the mental health needs of the American population and especially of children and adolescents. The model favored by Albee to meet these needs was an educational model. The proposed educational model employed three components to provide needed services: a new class of professionals more like schoolteachers than psychologists, a new type of service delivery more like a school than like a clinic, and interventions more like rehabilitation than like therapy. An approach similar to what Albee suggested is special education for seriously emotionally disturbed children and adolescents mandated by PL 94–142 in 1975 and its subsequent reauthorizations that are now referred to as IDEA.

In 2001, the school-age population of the United States and its territories was 50,223,669, of which 473,663 were classified as EBD. This suggests a prevalence of 0.94% based on identification for services. Research-based estimates, using the SED definition, for the actual prevalence of EBD range as high as 10%, which suggest that EBD students are grossly underidentified and underserved. Students classified as EBD comprise about 8% of the students in special education.

There are two major types of classification systems: qualitative and quantitative. The qualitative approach to classification has a clinical basis. One example of such a system is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV-TR developed by the American Psychiatric Association. The quantitative approach bases categories on statistical procedures that identify behaviors that occur together and form a distinct [Page 336]pattern. One example of such a system is the Child Behavior Profile developed by Thomas Achenbach and Craig Edelbrock.

The following two categories exist in teaching about EBD:

• 1.
  Conduct problems: Seen in (a) undersocialized aggressive children who are characterized by fighting, disruption, argumentativeness, destructiveness, selfishness, and defiance due to insufficient socialization, which may be exacerbated by temperament; (b) socialized aggressive children (aka socialized delinquents or socially maladjusted). The problems seen in this group are similar to those given for the undersocialized aggressive. What distinguishes this group is that problem behaviors usually represent adaptive behavior that takes place in a group context. Problems are due to deviant socialization that often takes place in a deviant peer group; (c) hyperactive children who have problems associated with high activity level and inadequate focus of attention, which are probably related to deficient arousal levels in the neocortex. Some of the problems typically seen include restlessness, nonpurposeful motor activity, and impulsiveness.
• 2.
  Emotional problems: Children with affect-based problems are often characterized by anxiety and avoidance behavior. These behaviors are believed to be due mostly to the interaction of biological predisposition, such as temperament with experience. Problems typically seen include fearfulness, phobic avoidance, social withdrawal, depression, compulsiveness, hypersensitivity, self-consciousness, and secretiveness.

One important question about EBD is, Where does this behavior come from? There are three major influences on all behavior. First, there are biological influences that occur before birth such as genetically transmitted predispositions like temperament. There are also influences that occur during or after birth such as disease (e.g., encephalitis) or brain damage caused by birth complications (e.g., anoxia). These influences are often thought to contribute to the development of behavioral disorders but not to directly cause them. Second, there are environmental influences such as culture, including ethnicity and social class. Home influences such as marital discord, adequacy of parenting skills, parental mental health, and the influence of siblings also influence the development of behavior. School likewise plays an important role in the development of behavior through teacher expectations, differential treatment of students by teachers, and school success or failure. Peers contribute to the socialization of sexual attitudes, sexual behavior, aggression, moral standards, and emotional expression. Third, there is the influence of self-agency or volitional choices made to achieve consistency between behavior and personal values and goals.

...