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Article
Comparing Behavioral and Emotional Strengths of Students With and Without Emotional Disturbance
Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment
  • Matthew C. Lambert, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  • Stacy-Ann A. January, University of South Florida
  • Jorge E. Gonzalez, University of Houston
  • Michael H. Epstein, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  • Jodie Martin, Pro-ED Inc
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2022
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.

Citation / Publisher Attribution

Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, v. 39, issue 8, p. 999-1014

Citation Information
Matthew C. Lambert, Stacy-Ann A. January, Jorge E. Gonzalez, Michael H. Epstein, et al.. "Comparing Behavioral and Emotional Strengths of Students With and Without Emotional Disturbance" Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment Vol. 39 Iss. 8 (2022) p. 999 - 1014
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/stacy-ann-january/15/