Behavioral Reputations of Elementary Students With or at Risk for Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

Elementary school students with or at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) are likely to experience social difficulties and challenges with peer relationships (e.g., victimization, rejection, isolation, and negative peer influence). A particularly salient influence on students’ classroom-based social experiences is how they are perceived by their classmates. The current study examined the extent to which the behavioral reputations of a group of U.S. K to third-grade students identified as with or at risk for EBD (focal students; n = 26) differed from their classmates ( n = 120). Results revealed that focal students had poorer behavioral reputations among the domains of Starts Fights , Says Mean Things , Nice , Cooperates , and Gives the Teacher a Hard Time ; and that these reputations were stable over time. Interestingly, there were no differences between focal students and their classmates for the reputation of being Picked On . Implications and limitations are discussed.