Family Functioning and Problem Behaviors at School

Children with emotional and behavior disorders (EBD) seem to come to school with a lot on their plates.  The article I read aimed at looking at the family dynamic for children with EBD that were receiving services in a special education environment.  The authors were trying to see if struggles at home equated to struggles in the classroom for these students in either internalizing or externalizing behaviors.  Internalizing behavior are problems with depression or anxiety, whereas externalizing behaviors are aggression or defiant behavior.  

Previous research, while in some instances examined the same idea, did not look specifically at students that were in a special education environment.  Within that environment other supports are in place that may not be available to other students.  In this study families answered questionnaires regarding family dynamics.  Questions centered around family organization, communication, partner relationship of care-givers, responsiveness of care-givers to the child, and social supports.  In addition to that questionnaire, teachers were asked to answer questions about how the student performed in the classroom paying special attention to those internalizing and externalizing behaviors.  

This study took place over two school years, so two different teachers had input on the child's classroom behavior.  The families were able to answer the same questionnaire two times as well.  The results showed that poor family functioning does in fact lead to poor behavior in the classroom.  As the situations at home improve, the behavior tends to improve.  It was also found that externalizing behaviors may lead to poor family functioning.  Showing that this is not just a one way relationship between home life and behavior.  

I have some experience with students that may not be diagnosed with EBD, but certainly come to school effected by their home environment.  It can be things as small as a parent now has a new job with different hours, but it is enough of a change to result in new behaviors.  It can be easy to dismiss these behaviors as just a misbehaving child, but sometimes those are just a manifestation of those internalizing behaviors the child does not know what to do with.  They may not know what depression or anxiety is, but they know they do not feel right.

In our text, it mentioned how the reaction of the faculty to behavior issues is so important (McLeskey, Rosenberg, & Westling, 2013).  In incidences of behavior problems it can be easy to get emotional.  Keeping your composure can be a difficult task, but in the end may make all the difference in the world to de-escalate a situation.  Keeping in mind there could be a lot of family discord this student is dealing with may help to keep emotions in check.

At the end of the article, the authors listed some of the potential weaknesses of the research.  These included items that may effect behaviors that the study did not factor in, such as some students with EBD also have learning problems.  It is very helpful to have a clear frame of what the study looked at and what it did not examine. It was very interesting to note that there are behaviors that can lead to lower family functioning, not just poor family functioning leading to poor behaviors.  

Keeping in mind that every student comes as a complete package can be very practical.  Problem behaviors are not intended to be a personal attack against a teacher.  While these behaviors need to be addressed, and students need to act appropriately it is a good reminder that our students come to us for only part of their day.  They have a lot of other experiences to deal with when they leave our classroom.  

McLeskey, J., Rosenberg, M., & Westling, D. (2013). Inclusion: Effective practices for all students. 2nd ed. Pearson Education Inc 

Stoutjesdijk, R., Scholte, E., & Swaab, H. (2016). Impact of family functioning on classroom problem behavior of children with emotional and behavioral disorders in special education.  Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 24(4), 199-210.