Characteristics

According to the Center for Parent Information and Resources (2017), students with the most severe emotional needs may exhibit distorted thinking, excessive anxiety, bizarre motor acts, and abnormal mood swings. Many children with no formal diagnoses may still display some of these behaviors during development. However, these behaviors continue over long periods when children have EBDs. Their behavior signals that they are not coping with their environment or peers. For example, Cherise, is a seventh-grader who sits silently at her desk during an enthusiastic science discussion led by her teacher; she is preoccupied with thoughts of suicide. More often than not, when children have EBD, these behaviors persist for a long time. However, most students with emotional problems sit undetected in general education classrooms.

Some of the most common characteristics that impact students with EBD include social and emotional difficulties, with impacts on communication and motivation. Examples include the following:

• Hyperactivity (short attention span, impulsiveness)
• Aggression or self-injurious behavior (acting out, fighting)
• Withdrawal (not interacting socially with others, excessive fear or anxiety)
• Communication (difficulty with turn-taking, initiative, sharing, requesting, or responding)
• Immaturity (inappropriate crying, temper tantrums, poor coping skills)
• Learning difficulties (academically performing below grade level, academic achievement can be uneven)

(Center for Parent Information and Resources, 2017)

Most students with EBD are aware that they exhibit these characteristics and behaviors. When they compare themselves to their peers, which is part of human nature to some extent, they become aware of how their school performance differs. Students with EBD are often aware that they are disappointing key people, including family and teachers. All these factors can impact their motivation and engagement in school (Hessel & Schwab, 2015).

Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors

Students with EBD are often categorized as “internalizers” (e.g., have poor self-esteem or are diagnosed with an anxiety or mood disorder) or “externalizers” (e.g., disrupt classroom instruction or are diagnosed with disruptive behavior disorders such as oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder). A given student may show both aggressive and withdrawn behavior at different times – remember that most students with EBD have multiple factors impacting their social and emotional well-being (Center for Parent Information and Resources, 2017).

Male students might be overrepresented in the EBD population because they appear more likely to exhibit disruptive externalizing behavior that interferes with classroom instruction. Females may be more likely to exhibit internalizing behavior, which does not interfere with classroom instruction. However, the extent to which this perception is due to social expectations or differences in behavior related to gender yet to be determined, with a noticeable gap in the research around youth who identify as transgender, nonbinary, and those who do not identify with any gender. It is essential to note that both internalizing and externalizing behaviors can and do occur across genders. The following section highlights additional information about both types of behavior (Center for Parent Information and Resources, 2017).

Internalizing

A student who has EBD with “internalizing” behavior may have poor self-esteem, suffer from depression, experience a loss of interest in social, academic, and other life activities, and exhibit non-suicidal self-injury or substance abuse. Students with internalizing behavior may also have a diagnosis of separation anxiety or another anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), specific or social phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, and/or an eating disorder. Teachers are more likely to write referrals for overly disruptive students. Screening tools that detect students with high “internalizing” behavior are not sensitive to capturing these behaviors and are rarely used in practice (Center for Parent Information and Resources, 2017).

Externalizing

Students who have EBD with “externalizing” behavior may be aggressive, noncompliant, extroverted, or disruptive. Students with EBD who show externalizing behavior are often diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), conduct disorder, and/or bipolar disorder; however, this population can also include typically developing children who have learned to exhibit externalizing behavior for various reasons (e.g., escape from academic demands or access to attention). These students often have difficulty managing emotional responses resulting from anger, frustration, and disappointment. Students who “externalize” tend to exhibit behaviors such as insults, provocations, threats, bullying, cursing, fighting, and other forms of aggression Center for (Parent Information and Resources, 2017).