![[PDF]](/pb-assets/Icons/adobe-pdf-icon-1498649896243.png){kind=icon}
Abstract
The Emotional and Behavioral Screener (EBS) is a recently developed teacher-reported brief screening instrument for identifying students who are at-risk of an emotional or behavioral disorder (EBD). Although prior research supports the technical adequacy of scores from the EBS, there is a gap in the literature regarding strong evidence of the factor structure underlying EBS scores. This study investigated the latent structure of scores from the EBS in a sample of 646 elementary students who were rated by their teachers in a 2-week screening period. Single-factor confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and bifactor models were used to test the hypothesis that EBS scores are a measure of both overall emotional and behavioral risk and students’ externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Results supported a bifactor structure, in that scores from the EBS can be considered to represent a general factor (i.e., risk of EBD) and two group factors (i.e., externalizing and internalizing domains). Findings have implications for interpreting scores when using the EBS as a universal screener for the risk of EBD.
References
Section:
|
American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council of Measurement in Education . (1999). The standards for educational and psychological testing. Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association. Google Scholar | |
|
Bentler, P. M. (1990). Comparative fit indexes in structural models. Psychological Bulletin, 107, 238-246. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.107.2.238 Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Bradley, R., Doolittle, J., Bartolotta, R. (2008). Building on the data and adding to the discussion: The experiences and outcomes of students with emotional disturbance. Journal of Behavioral Education, 17, 4-23. doi:10.1007/s10864-007-9058-6 Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Browne, M. W., Cudeck, R. (1992). Alternative ways of assessing model fit. Sociological Methods & Research, 21, 230-258. doi:10.1177/0049124192021002005 Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Bruhn, A. L., Woods-Groves, S., Huddle, S. (2014). A preliminary investigation of emotional and behavioral screening practices in K–12 schools. Education and Treatment of Children, 37, 611-634. doi:10.1353/etc.2014.0039 Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Brunner, M., Nagy, G., Wilhelm, O. (2012). A tutorial on hierarchically structured constructs. Journal of Personality, 80, 796-846. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2011.00749.x Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Coie, J. D., Terry, R., Lenox, K., Lochman, J., Hyman, C. (1995). Childhood peer rejection and aggression as predictors of stable patterns of adolescent disorder. Development and Psychopathology, 7, 697-713. doi:10.1017/S0954579400006799 Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Costello, E. J., Mustillo, S., Erkanli, A., Keeler, G., Angold, A. (2003). Prevalence and development of psychiatric disorders in childhood and adolescence. Archives of General Psychiatry, 60, 837-844. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.60.8.837 Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | |
|
Cullinan, D., Epstein, M. H. (2013a). Development, reliability, and construct validity of the Emotional and Behavioral Screener. Preventing School Failure, 57, 223-230. doi:10.1080/1045988X.2012.715356 Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Cullinan, D., Epstein, M. H. (2013b). Emotional and Behavioral Screener. Austin, TX: PRO-ED. Google Scholar | |
|
Dowdy, E., Ritchey, K., Kamphaus, R. W. (2010). School-based screening: A population-based approach to inform and monitor children’s mental health needs. School Mental Health, 2, 166-176. doi:10.1007/s12310-010-9036-3 Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | |
|
Eklund, K., Renshaw, T. L., Dowdy, E., Jimerson, S. R., Hart, S. R., Jones, C. N., Earhart, J. (2009). Early identification of behavioral and emotional problems in youth: Universal screening versus teacher-referral identification. The California School Psychologist, 14, 89-95. doi:10.1007/BF03340954 Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Epstein, M. H., Cullinan, D. (2010). Scales for Assessing Emotional Disturbance (2nd ed.). Austin, TX: PRO-ED. Google Scholar | |
|
Finch, H. (2011). Multidimensional item response theory parameter estimation with nonsimple structure items. Applied Psychological Measurement, 35, 67-82. doi:10.1177/0146621610367787 Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Glover, T. A., Albers, C. A. (2007). Considerations for evaluating universal screening assessments. Journal of School Psychology, 45, 117-135. doi:10.1016/j.jsp.2006.05.005 Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Harrison, D. (1986). Robustness of IRT parameter estimation to violations of the unidimensionality assumption. Journal of Educational Statistics, 11, 91-115. doi:10.2307/1164972 Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Hu, L.-T., Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1-55. doi:10.1080/10705519909540118 Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Husky, M. M., Kaplan, A., McGuire, L., Flynn, L., Chrostowski, C., Olfson, M. (2011). Identifying adolescents at risk through voluntary school-based mental health screening. Journal of Adolescence, 34, 505-511. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2010.05.018 Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | |
|
Kamphaus, R. W. (2012). Screening for behavioral and emotional risk: Constructs and practicalities. School Psychology Forum, 6, 89-97. Google Scholar | |
|
Kamphaus, R. W., Reynolds, C. R., Dever, B. V. (2014). Behavioral and mental health screening. In Kettler, R. J., Glover, T. A., Albers, C. A., Feeney-Kettler, K. A. (Eds.), Universal screening in educational settings: Evidence-based decision making for schools (pp. 249-273). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Kane, M. (2013). The argument-based approach to validation. School Psychology Review, 42, 448-457. Google Scholar | |
|
Ladd, G. W. (2006). Peer rejection, aggressive or withdrawn behavior, and psychological maladjustment from ages 5 to 12: An examination of four predictive models. Child Development, 77, 822-846. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00905.x Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Lambert, M. C., Epstein, M. H., Cullinan, D. (2014). The diagnostic quality of the Emotional and Behavioral Screener. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 32, 51-61. doi:10.1177/0734282913485541 Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Lambert, M. C., Epstein, M. H., Ingram, S., Simpson, A., Bernstein, S. (2014). Psychometrics and measurement invariance of the Emotional and Behavioral Screener. Behavioral Disorders, 39, 89-101. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
McDonald, R. P. (1999). Test theory: A unified treatment. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Google Scholar | |
|
McIntosh, K., Ty, S. V., Miller, L. D. (2014). Effects of school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports on internalizing problems: Current evidence and future directions. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 16, 209-218. doi:10.1177/1098300713491980 Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Merikangas, K. R., He, J.-P., Burstein, M., Swanson, S. A., Avenevoli, S., Cui, L., . . . Swendsen, J. (2010). Lifetime prevalence of mental disorders in U.S. adolescents: Results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication–Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A). Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 49, 980-989. doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2010.05.017 Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Muthén, L. K., Muthén, B. O. (1998-2014). Mplus user’s guide (7th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Author. Google Scholar | |
|
National Research Council and Institute of Medicine Committee on the Prevention of Mental Disorders and Substance Abuse Among Children, Youth and Young Adults: Research Advances and Promising Interventions (with O’Connell, M. E., Boat, T., Warner, K. E. Eds.). (2009). Preventing mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders among young people: Progress and possibilities. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Nordness, P. D., Epstein, M. H., Cullinan, D., Pierce, C. D. (2014). Emotional and Behavioral Screener: Test–retest reliability, inter-rater reliability, and convergent validity. Remedial and Special Education, 35, 211-217. doi:10.1177/0741932513497596 Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Pierce, C. D., Lambert, M. C., Alamer, H. (2016). Convergent, criterion and social validity of the emotional and behavioral screener. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 25, 77-85. doi:10.1007/s10826-015-0206-7 Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Pihlakoski, L., Sourander, A., Aromaa, M., Rautava, P., Helenius, H., Sillanpää, M. (2006). The continuity of psychopathology from early childhood to preadolescence: A prospective cohort study of 3-12-year-old children. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 15, 409-417. doi:10.1007/s00787-006-0548-1 Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Pornprasertmanit, S., Lee, J., Preacher, K. J. (2014). Ignoring clustering in confirmatory factor analysis: Some consequences for model fit and standardized parameter estimates. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 49, 518-543. doi:10.1080/00273171.2014.933762 Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Reise, S. P. (2012). The rediscovery of bifactor measurement models. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 47, 667-696. doi:10.1080/00273171.2012.715555 Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Reise, S. P., Moore, T. M., Haviland, M. G. (2010). Bifactor models and rotations: Exploring the extent to which multidimensional data yield univocal scale scores. Journal of Personality Assessment, 92, 544-559. doi:10.1080/00223891.2010.496477 Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Romer, D., McIntosh, M. (2005). The roles and perspectives of school mental health professional in promoting adolescent mental health. In Evans, D. L., Foa, E. B., Gur, R. E., Hendin, H., O’Brien, C. P., Seligman, M. E. P., Walsh, B. T. (Eds.), Treating and preventing adolescent mental health disorders: What we know and what we don’t know (pp. 598-615). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Schwartz, D., McFadyen-Ketchum, S. A., Dodge, K. A., Pettit, G. S., Bates, J. E. (1998). Peer group victimization as a predictor of children’s behavior problems at home and in school. Development and Psychopathology, 10, 87-99. doi:10.1017/S095457949800131X Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Severson, H. H., Walker, H. M., Hope-Doolittle, J., Kratochwill, T. R., Gresham, F. M. (2007). Proactive, early screening to detect behaviorally at-risk students: Issues, approaches, emerging innovations, and professional practices. Journal of School Psychology, 45, 193-223. doi:10.1016/j.jsp.2006.11.003 Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Slaney, K. L., Maraun, M. D. (2008). A proposed framework for conducting data-based test analysis. Psychological Methods, 13, 376-390. doi:10.1037/a0014269 Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Steiger, J. H., Lind, J. C. (1980, June). Statistically based tests for the number of common factors. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society, Iowa City, IA. Google Scholar | |
|
Sugai, G., Horner, R. H. (2009). Responsiveness-to-intervention and school-wide positive behavior supports: Integration of multi-tiered system approaches. Exceptionality, 17, 223-237. doi:10.1080/09362830903235375 Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Tucker, L. R., Lewis, C. (1973). A reliability coefficient for maximum likelihood factor analysis. Psychometrika, 38, 1-10. doi:10.1007/BF02291170 Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services . (1999). Mental health: A report of the Surgeon General. Rockville, MD: Author. Google Scholar | |
|
Wagner, M., Kutash, K., Duchnowski, A. J., Epstein, M. H., Sumi, W. C. (2005). The children and youth we serve: A national picture of the characteristics of students with Emotional Disturbances receiving special education. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 13, 79-96. doi:10.1177/10634266050130020201 Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Wagner, M. M. (1995). Outcomes for youths with serious emotional disturbance in secondary school and early adulthood. Future of Children, 5, 90-112. doi:10.2307/1602359 Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Zinbarg, R. E., Yovel, I., Revelle, W., McDonald, R. P. (2006). Estimating generalizability to a latent variable common to all of a scale’s indicators: A comparison of estimators for ωh. Applied Psychological Measurement, 30, 121-144. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI |
