An emotional/behavioral disorder is a mental health disability characterized by intensive internalized behaviors (e.g., anxiety, depression) and/or externalized behaviors (e.g., physical aggression, verbal aggression). Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social communication and repetitive behaviors (i.e., stereo…

The purpose of the current study was to examine perceptions of school climate among students who self-identify as having an emotional and behavioral disorder (EBD) and their counterparts without disabilities on the "Georgia Student Health Survey 2.0." Although research examining the link between perceptions of school climate and student…

Intervention for behavioural and psychiatric disorders in people with intellectual disabilities often only takes place once these conditions are well established and more resistant to change. As an alternative, this paper promotes a public health prevention model and maps out opportunities for intervention at primary, secondary and tertiary…

Children in child welfare protective custody (e.g., foster care) are known to have increased health concerns compared to children not in protective custody. The poor health documented for children in protective custody persists well into adulthood; young adults who emancipate from protective custody report poorer health, lower quality of life, and…

School counselors are in a prime position to collaborate with school and community stakeholders to both prevent and respond to the challenges experienced and exhibited by students with one or more disruptive behavior disorders (DBD). In this article, the DBDs discussed include conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, intermittent explosive…

Three levels of investigation underlie all biologically based attempts at classification of behaviorally defined developmental and psychiatric disorders: Level A, pseudo-categorical classification of mostly dimensional descriptions of behaviors and their disorders included in the 2013 American Psychiatric Association's Fifth Edition of the…

This study uses a cohort-sequential longitudinal design to examine the patterns of change and codevelopment of anxiety, depression, and oppositional defiant symptoms (ODS) from late adolescence to young adulthood. Four waves of data were collected biennially by individual interview with a random, community-based sample of 662 youth ages 12 to 18…

Accurate and regularly updated prevalences are critical to guide both prevention and policy. However, despite their impact on public health, the prevalence of behavioral and mental health problems such as child maltreatment and intimate partner violence (IPV) are collected infrequently (e.g., once per decade or less). The purpose of this study is…

The recent Institute of Medicine report on prevention (National Research Council & Institute of Medicine, 2009) noted the substantial interrelationship among mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders and pointed out that, to a great extent, these problems stem from a set of common conditions. However, despite the evidence, current research and…

Child and adolescent mental health disorders are known to increase the risk for numerous poor school and life outcomes for children and adolescents including suicidal ideation and attempts, academic underachievement and school dropout, substance use and disorders, and physical fighting or victimization by a weapon (Bradley, Doolittle, &…

The acutely distressed student, one who exhibits disturbing or disruptive behavior that is outside of the norm of other students due to significant mental illness and who may be at risk to harm oneself or others, poses considerable challenges to today's higher education institutions (Amanda, 1994; Jed Foundation, 2006; McKinley & Dworkin, 1989).…

Decades of research have demonstrated, now convincingly, that emotional and behavioral syndromes and many of their antecedent risks can be prevented. Much of this progress can be traced to the founding and expansion of the relatively young field called prevention science, an interdisciplinary field that emerged in the early 1990s to address the…

Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is one of a group of behavioral disorders called disruptive behavior disorders (DBD). These disorders are called this because children who have these disorders tend to disrupt those around them. ODD is one of the more common mental health disorders found in children and adolescents. This paper discusses the…

Treatment Improvement Protocols (TIPs) are developed by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), part of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Each TIP involves the development of topic-specific best-practice guidelines for the prevention and…

Quietly, at least beyond the awareness of many psychologists, a relatively new technology based on school-wide behavior management strategies has emerged in special education to answer the call to build healthy communities. The success of these strategies in changing the practices of school systems and creating positive school climates may offer…