The authors investigated the five eligibility characteristics of the federal education disability emotional disturbance (ED): inability to learn, relationship problems, inappropriate behavior, unhappiness or depression, and physical symptoms or fears. Participants were 1,210 middle or high school level students with or without ED, of three different racial/ethnic statuses and both genders. Category main effects confirmed that adolescents with ED exceed those without ED on the five characteristics; interaction effects revealed nuances. For relationship problems, students with ED exceeded peers without ED at both school levels, but for unhappiness or depression and physical symptoms or fears, only middle school students with ED had higher scores than their peers.Among students with ED, European Americans exhibited greater physical symptoms or fears than did African Americans but not Hispanics. On relationship problems, there were category-by-gender patterns unique to each race-ethnic group. Results address race and ethnicity in ED identification decisions, indicate additional data needed on students with ED, and suggest research directions.
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