TY - JOUR
T1 - Comparing Behavioral and Emotional Strengths of Students With and Without Emotional Disturbance
AU - Lambert, Matthew C.
AU - January, Stacy-Ann A.
AU - Gonzalez, Jorge E.
AU - Epstein, Michael H.
AU - Martin, Jodie
PY - 2022/1/1
Y1 - 2022/1/1
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - emotional disturbance
KW - emotional and behavioral disorders
KW - behavioral and emotional strengths
KW - assessment of interventions/outcomes
KW - strength-based assessment
KW - construct validity
UR - https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/esf_facpub/255
UR - https://doi.org/10.1177_07342829211038451
U2 - /10.1177_07342829211038451
DO - /10.1177_07342829211038451
M3 - Article
VL - 39
JO - Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment
JF - Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment
ER -