Measures Validating the Behavior Intervention for Children With or At-Risk for Emotional/Behavioral Disorders: A Review

Abstract

Interventions for students with or at-risk of emotional/behavioral disorders (EBDs) frequently target idiosyncratic behaviors defined by teachers, behavior specialists, or researchers. Consequently, the extent to which a problem behavior exists and the operationalization of the problem behavior largely depend on the perceptions of school staff. A number of research practices, including the use of standardized screening measures and the assessment of social validity, are designed to ensure that students who receive behavior interventions present with legitimate problems that are meaningful to stakeholders. The prevalence of such methods in recent studies for children with EBD remains unclear. This review examined the use of methods to validate the need for behavior intervention in single-case design studies involving EBD published in Behavior Disorders from 2000 to 2021. Identified articles (n = 34) featured 129 student participants. Teachers were typically responsible for identifying study participants; however, standardized screening methods were used in most articles. Targeted behaviors were generally created by researchers or teachers. Task engagement represented the dependent variable in more than 50% of studies. Less than half of the articles featured social validity, with many procedures assessing both teacher and student perspectives. Key findings, limitations, and implications for research and practice are discussed.