Social Skills and Emotionally/Behaviorally Disordered Learners

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Perhaps the most obvious interpersonal interaction and social skills that discriminate learners identified as emotionally/behaviorally disordered from their nonidentified peers are "externalizing" problems, such as overactivity, aggression, and impulsivity. These learners are often referred to as "hard to manage" (Campbell & Ewing, 1990). Although overactivity and defiance among two- and three-year-old children may be age-appropriate signs of a developmental transition, higher levels of overactivity and failing to follow directions may be an indicator of more significant challenges and the potential to be identified as emotionally/behaviorally disordered (Campbell & Ewing, 1990; Campbell, Pierce, March, Ewing, & Szumowski, 1994). Observations in a clinical laboratory of family stress and overactivity and inattention of a three-year-old child were found to predict teacher ratings of hyperactivity and impulse control at age nine (Campbell & Ewing, 1990). Adults' reports of hard-to-manage behavior in preschool-age boys often reflect actual interaction patterns of activity, impulsivity, noncompliance, and aggression that are likely to lead to identification as emotionally/behaviorally disordered (Campbell et al., 1994).

Another perspective on the longitudinal stability of interaction styles thought to be problematic for school success is the "ill-tempered" temperament. Caspi. Bern, and Elder (1989), explored the "ill-tempered" temperament, which they described as the inability to delay gratification, control impulses, and modulate emotional expression. They found that ill-tempered boys and girls become both ill-tempered adults, and ill-tempered parents. In their study population, men identified as ill-tempered as boys were described as undercontrolled. irritable, and moody. These men experienced downward occupational mobility. erratic work lives, and were more likely to divorce. Ill-tempered girls became women who married men with lower occupational status, were more likely to divorce, and were described by their husbands and children as ill-tempered mothers.

Aggression

Using a direct observation procedure, Wehby, Symons, and Shores (1995) found low overall rates of positive social interactions in the daily classroom ecology of aggressive learners, or those who exhibit aggression—behavior exhibited with the intent to dominate others. Although there were no significant differences in the rates of teacher instructions toward somewhat aggressive and highly aggressive learners, the highly aggressive learners received almost 3 times as many statements regarding the consequences of their behavior than did the somewhat aggressive learners. This may be because highly aggressive learners engaged in significantly higher rates of teacher-directed yelling, noncompliance, and other physiical behaviors than the less aggressive students. In peer interactions, highly aggressive learners engaged in negative verbal behavior and physical aggression approximately 10 times more often than did their low aggressive peers; they also received more threats from others. Rates of teacher praise toward highly aggressive students were found to be very low and accounted for only a small proportion of antecedents and consequences of the students' aggression.