Risks and Protective Factors Related to EBD in School Contexts

Overview of Risks and Protective
Factors Related to EBD in School Contexts

There is growing concern as increasing numbers of American children are having difficulty managing the challenges of healthy development. Between 12% and 22% of youths under age 18 need mental health services, and an estimated 7.5 million children suffer from one or more mental disorders. Risk and protective factors for externalizing and internalizing behaviors were examined across three contexts, within-child, family, and school/community. For externalizing behaviors 53 risk and protective factors were identified associated with 20 outcomes. For internalizing behaviors 12 risk and protective factors were associated with 10 outcomes. The effect size for risk and protective factors were ranked by magnitude as large if d is greater than .5, medium if d is greater than .2 but less than .5, and small if d is less than .2 (Cohen, 1977). Risk and protective factors across contexts for both internalizing and externalizing behaviors were also analyzed for large effect sizes associated with single factors for multiple behavioral outcomes.

The unpredictability and indeterminateness of student behavior and learning histories has produced variegated studies related to risks and protective factors associated with emotional and/or behavioral disorders. Mostert and Kavale (2001) suggest that such unpredictability rarely produces clear main effects but often includes complex higher-order outcome interactions, and that meta-analytic techniques offer an advantage by providing a methodology for investigating both main effects and interactions. Based on examination of abstracts of 1,686 meta-analyses identified through computerized database searches, 196 were chosen for full-text review. Eighteen meta-analyses met the following criteria for inclusion, a) publication between 1982 and 2002 in English-language peer-reviewed journals, b) reference to identified risks or protective factors, c) based on American populations, d) did not rely on retrospective assessment of risk or protective factors, e) data reported for children 0 – 18 years of age, f) sufficient data to allow for calculation of effect sizes. In the within-child context large effect sizes were noted for learning disabilities and five outcomes: distractibility, d = 1.01; problem behaviors, d = .98; time off-task, d = 1.31; time on-task, d = -1.05; and withdrawal/loneliness, d = 1.08. Rejected status on peer sociometric measures showed large effect sizes for four outcomes: overall aggression, d = .67; verbal aggression, d = .52; disruptive behavior, d = .91; and withdrawal, d = .51. Controversial status on peer sociometric measures demonstrated a large effect size for two outcomes, overall aggression, d = .90, and disruptive behavior, d = .70. For females, large effects was noted for prior antisocial behavior and recidivistic delinquency, d = 1.09, and antisocial peers and recidivistic delinquency, d = 1.25. Effect sizes for broad attributional styles and self-reported depression ranged from 1.33 to .58, with some effects classified as risk and some as protective differing based on internal/external, global/specific, and stable/unstable characteristics. In the family context, intact family structure was a protective factor associated with self-reported drinking behavior, d = .53. In the school/community context, school relationships were associated with large effects on recidivistic delinquency by females, d = .53.
References
Mostert, M. P., & Kavale, K. A. (2001). Evaluation of research for usable knowledge in behvaioral disorders: Ignoring the irrelevant, considering the germaine. Behavioral Disorders, 27(1), 53-68. Cohen, J. (1977). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (Revised ed.). New York: Academic Press.