Comparing Behavioral and Emotional Strengths of Students With and Without Emotional Disturbance
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2022
Keywords
emotional disturbance, emotional and behavioral disorders, behavioral and emotional strengths, assessment of interventions/outcomes, strength-based assessment, construct validity
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1177_07342829211038451
Abstract
The present study investigated evidence of the construct validity of scores from the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (BERS-3), which is a multi-informant assessment designed to measure the behavioral and emotional strengths of school-aged youth. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the degree to which BERS-3 scores differed between students with school-identified emotional disturbance and students without disabilities. Two nationally representative samples were used in this study: (a) 1,575 students rated by teachers and (b) 793 youth who provided self-ratings. The results of multivariate multiple regression analyses supported the primary hypothesis that students with emotional disturbance would have lower scores on each of the five BERS-3 subscale scores compared to peers without disabilities. This finding held for both samples; however, differences between students with emotional disturbance and the peers without disabilities were substantially smaller for the youth self-ratings compared to teacher ratings. Implications for practice and directions for future research are also discussed.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, v. 39, issue 8, p. 999-1014
Scholar Commons Citation
Lambert, Matthew C.; January, Stacy-Ann A.; Gonzalez, Jorge E.; Epstein, Michael H.; and Martin, Jodie, "Comparing Behavioral and Emotional Strengths of Students With and Without Emotional Disturbance" (2022). Educational and Psychological Studies Faculty Publications. 255.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/esf_facpub/255
