A comparison of measures to screen for social, emotional, and behavioral risk.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between teacher-implemented screening measures used to identify social, emotional, and behavioral risk. To this end, 5 screening options were evaluated: (a) Direct Behavior Rating - Single Item Scales (DBR-SIS), (b) Social Skills Improvement System - Performance Screening Guide (SSiS), (c) Behavioral and Emotional Screening System - Teacher Form (BESS), (d) Office discipline referrals (ODRs), and (e) School nomination methods. The sample included 1974 students who were assessed tri-annually by their teachers (52% female, 93% non-Hispanic, 81% white). Findings indicated that teacher ratings using standardized rating measures (DBR-SIS, BESS, and SSiS) resulted in a larger proportion of students identified at-risk than ODRs or school nomination methods. Further, risk identification varied by screening option, such that a large percentage of students were inconsistently identified depending on the measure used. Results further indicated weak to strong correlations between screening options. The relation between broad behavioral indicators and mental health screening was also explored by examining classification accuracy indices. Teacher ratings using DBR-SIS and SSiS correctly identified between 81% and 91% of the sample as at-risk using the BESS as a criterion. As less conservative measures of risk, DBR-SIS and SSiS identified more students as at-risk relative to other options. Results highlight the importance of considering the aims of the assessment when selecting broad screening measures to identify students in need of additional support.

Screening for Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Problems at Kindergarten Entry: The Utility of Two Teacher Rating Scales

“…Second, with regard to psychometric properties, teacher versions of both instruments have evidence for adequate internal consistency and test-retest reliability, though the BESS appears marginally stronger in these areas (Feeney-Kettler, Kratochwill, Kaiser, Hemmeter, & Kettler 2010;Harrison, Vannest, Reynolds, 2013;Stone, Otten, Engels, Vermulst & Janssens, 2010). The BESS has demonstrated strong concurrent validity with theoretically related instruments such as the BASC-2 (Kamphaus, DiStefano, Dowdy, Eklund, & Dunn, 2010), Direct Behavior Ratingsingle-item scales (Miller et al, 2015), and Social Skills Improvement System-performance screening guide (Miller et al, 2015). The teacher version of the SDQ has demonstrated concurrent validity with a number of broad and specific mental health diagnostic screeners (see Stone et al, 2015 for a review) but has relatively fewer examinations as a school-based universal screener.…”

Generalizability of Universal Screening Measures for Behavioral and Emotional Risk

“…Yet, fewer than one-third of youth with mental health concerns receive any treatment or support (Merikangas et al, 2010). Schools may play an important role in promoting the mental health of students through early identification strategies that can link students to necessary supports (Miller et al, 2014).…”

Monitoring Academic and Social Skills in Elementary School

“…Current behavioral progress monitoring measures include office discipline referrals (ODRs), systematic direct observations (SDOs), direct behavior ratings (DBRs), as well as behavior rating scales, and each has strengths and weaknesses (Cook, Volpe, & Delport, 2014). For example, ODRs require little time but are often limited in the types of behavior they can measure, being used primarily for externalizing behaviors (Miller et al, 2015), and are subject to teacher variability. SDOs can provide a detailed, naturalistic sample of a student's behavior, but require a great deal of time and resources to conduct.…”