Social and Emotional Learning for Students
with Internalizing Behaviors
Paul Caldarella, Leslie Gunter,
Thomas J. Kramer, Luke A. Marvin
BYU - Positive Behavior Support Initiative
Presented at the TECBD Conference
Tempe, AZ
October 25, 2013
Acknowledgements
Dr. Ken Merrell
November 24, 1957 to August 19, 2011
Overview
I. Mental health problems in schools
II. Internalizing behaviors
III. Prevention
IV. Screening
V. Social-Emotional Learning
VI. Strong Kids
VII.Evaluation results
Mental Health Needs in Schools
 ~20% students in need of services
• Only ~20% receive services
 Demands on educators
• Insufficient resources, overworked
• Limited time, academic requirements
 Ineffective Programs
• Not evidence based (e.g., “fads”)
• Reactive “get tough” approaches
• Address problems too late, less responsive to treatment
Internalizing Behaviors
• Expression of distress inwards
• Anxiety, depression, social withdrawal,
somatic complaints
• Can be difficult to detect through
observation
• Associated with negative academic and
social outcomes
• Prevalence: higher in girls & adolescents
Development of depression from preadolescence to young adulthood: Emerging gender differences in a
10-year longitudinal study. By: Hankin, Benjamin L., Abramson, Lyn Y., Moffitt, Terrie E., Silva, Phil A.,
McGee, Rob, Angell, Kathryn E., Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 0021843X, 1998, Vol. 107, Issue 1
Anxiety Disorders
Source: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/286227-overview#aw2aab6b2b8 based in part on Magee
WJ, Eaton WW, Wittchen HU, McGonagle KA, Kessler RC. Agoraphobia, simple phobia, and social phobia
in the National Comorbidity Survey. Arch Gen Psychiatry. Feb 1996;53(2):159-68.
Internalizing Behaviors
• Attempts to regulate internal emotional and
cognitive states in a manner that is maladaptive
• May be elicited by the way youth:
– think about their experiences
– behaviorally cope with unpleasant events
Three Pronged Prevention Approach
Affective: emotional education
Affect
Behavior
Behavioral: social skills training
Cognitive: change thinking
Cognition
Learning social and emotional skills and altering maladaptive
thought and behavior patterns may help prevent and reduce
internalizing symptoms.
Prevention of Internalizing Disorders
– Look at the “big picture”
– Consider the needs of all students
– Move some resources and effort towards
those not experiencing severe difficulties
– Address problems before they become severe
Merrell, K. W., Parisi, D. M., & Whitcomb, S. A. (2007). Strong Start grades K-2: A social and emotional learning curriculum.
Baltimore, MD: Paul H Brookes Publishing.
Tertiary Prevention:
Intensive interventions
1) Build Relationships
2) Establish Expectations
3) Teach Academic and
Social-Emotional Skills
~5%
~15%
Secondary Prevention:
Specialized
interventions
4) Reinforce Appropriate
Behavior
5) Use Interventions
Based on Data
decisions
~80% of Students
Primary
Prevention:
Universal
Interventions
Identifying Needs
• Systematic Screening for
Behavior Disorders
(SSBD) (Walker & Severson 1992)
– Screens All Students
– Internalizing & Externalizing
• Teacher ratings
• Multi-gated
• Suggests risk level
School-University
Collaboration
•
•
•
•
Screening
Review of results
Discussion of PBS interventions
Social and emotional learning
www.casel.org
Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)
• Promotes resilience by teaching the skills to:
– Recognize and manage emotions
– Develop care and concern for others
– Make responsible decisions
– Form positive relationships
– Handle challenging situations effectively
Strong Kids Series – SEL Curricula
Strong Start Pre-K (ages 3-5)
Strong Kids (ages 12-14)
Strong Kids (ages 8-12)
Strong Start (ages 5-8)
Strong Teens (ages 14-18)
Objectives of Strong Kids
• Prevent internalizing disorders
• Understand emotions
• Learn to:
•
•
•
•
monitor and regulate emotions, thoughts, feelings
handle challenges
solve interpersonal problems
set goals
About Strong Kids
• Based on:
• Principles of effective instruction
• Premise that social-emotional skills must be specifically
taught, learned, and practiced just like academic skills
• Semi-scripted developmentally appropriate lessons
• School to home practice application
• Home bulletin (Strong Start Pre-K/K-2)
• Home work (Strong Kids/Teens)
• Practical and easy to use
• Wide range of appropriate settings, purposes, leaders
How Strong Kids differs from other
SEL programs?
•
•
•
•
•
Emphasis on internalizing behaviors
Brief: 10-12 lessons, 25-50 minutes each
Empirically-based
SEL skills taught directly
Three-pronged instructional focus
– Affective: emotional education
– Behavioral: social skills training
– Cognitive: change thinking
Strengths
 Low-cost, low-tech
 Semi-structured
 Covers specific
objectives and goals
 Feasible and easy to
implement
 Highly flexible across
school settings and
student populations
Limitations
o Not a comprehensive
program
o May not meet needs of
all students
Teaching Strong Kids
• Direct Instruction
– Use scripts to directly teach concepts and skills
• Discussion
– Ask students to volunteer to share and discuss experiences
• Activities
–
–
–
–
Conduct small groups, model examples, and role-plays
Read children’s literature
Create drawings/posters
Practice relaxation exercises
• Application
– Precorrect, remind, and reinforce
Required Materials
•
•
•
•
Projector or transparencies
Handouts
Chalk or marker board
Stuffed animal mascot and children's literature
for Strong Start
• Overview of Lessons
Lesson Summaries
Lesson 1: About Strong Kids
– Critical terms defined (e.g., self-esteem,
depression, anxiety)
– Overview of upcoming lessons
– Behavioral expectations outlined
– Pre-assessment of knowledge and symptoms
(optional)
Sample – Symptom Checklist Items
Lessons 2 and 3: Understanding Your Feelings
• Improve emotional awareness and vocabulary
• Identify and distinguish feelings as comfortable or
uncomfortable
• Recognize situations that cause particular feelings
• Learn appropriate vs. inappropriate ways to express
feelings
Feelings Identification Activity
• This activity will help you learn to identify comfortable and uncomfortable
feelings…put a plus (+) mark next to any words that you think describe
comfortable feelings, and put a minus (-) mark next to any words that you
think describe uncomfortable feelings.
• Comfortable feelings: make people feel good, can help you have fun and
enjoy life
• Uncomfortable feelings: make people feel bad, can also help people
grow and change for the better
• Feeling List
happy
angry
strong
shy
lonely
sad
proud
worried
scared
upset
afraid
tired
bored
surprised
glad
love
Lesson 4: Dealing with Anger
•
•
•
•
•
Describe anger, causes, and function
Anger model
Distinguish between anger and aggression
Steps for delaying impulsive anger reactions
Appropriate ways to express anger
Anger Model
Trigger
Any situation that results in
you feeling angry.
Interpretation
The process of thinking about
what has happened to you and
deciding what it means.
Emotional Reaction (Anger)
What you feel after interpreting
a situation or trigger.
Decision
Making a choice about the
action you will take.
Behavior
Acting out the decision that
you made.
Consequence
The direct results of your
behavior.
Sample - Anger Management Strategy
Lessons 5: Understanding Other People’s Feelings
•
•
•
•
Empathy training
Identify feelings and perspectives of other people
Consider body language, facial expression
Role play scenarios
Sample - Empathy Assignment
Think of two times when you could tell how someone
else was feeling.
_________________________________________________
How could you tell? (What were the clues that you
noticed?)
_________________________________________________
What did you do, or what could you do to help that
person?
_________________________________________________
Lessons 6 and 7: Clear Thinking
•
•
•
•
•
Positive vs. negative thought patterns
Thoughts influence mood, choices, actions
Determining the level of the emotion
Common thinking errors
Dispelling negative thoughts
Sample – Common Thinking Errors
Binocular vision: looking at things in
Black-and-white thinking: looking at
a way that makes them seem bigger or things in only extreme or opposite
smaller than they really are.
ways. For example, thinking of things
as being good or bad, never or always,
all or none.
Dark glasses: thinking about only the
negative parts of things.
Fortune-telling: making predictions
about what will happen in the future
without enough evidence.
Making it personal: blaming yourself
for things that are not your fault.
Blame game: blaming others for
things you should take responsibility
for.
Supplement 6.1
(Overhead Transparency)
Feelings Thermometer
HIGH
MEDIUM
LOW
Lesson 8: The Power of Positive Thinking
•
•
•
•
Learn to redirect pessimistic feelings
Foster optimistic thinking
Do not attribute negative events to oneself
Change negative thoughts
Example of Using the ABCDE Model (Positive Thinking)
A: Adversity (Any problem): Michelle answers a question wrong in Math class.
B: Belief (Bad thoughts): Michelle believes the teacher is angry and the whole
class thinks she is stupid.
C: Consequence (Crummy feelings): Michelle feels depressed and thinks "I wish I
could run out of this classroom and never have to come back here again.“
D: Disputation or Decide (Decide not to accept thoughts): Michelle thinks
"Okay, I answered the question wrong but that doesn't mean the teacher is mad. We
are just learning these equations and she can't expect that all the students will
always answer the questions right. The other kids in the class probably don't think
I'm stupid because they get questions wrong too sometimes.“
E: Energization (Enjoy): Michelle thinks "I'm still a little embarrassed about getting
the question wrong but I don't think the teacher is mad and the kids think I am stupid
anymore. I no longer wish that I could run out of the classroom."
Lesson 9: Solving People Problems
• How to resolve conflict
– Identify problem
– Brainstorm solutions
– Choose one
– Make an agreement
• Strategies
– Deal making
– Compromising
– Discussing
– Brainstorming
Sample – Solving People Problems
Lesson 10: Letting Go of Stress
• Self-awareness of stress level
– physical & cognitive symptoms
• Relaxation techniques
– Slow breathing
– Muscle relaxation
• Cognitive techniques for dealing with stress
– Talking to friends
– Facing your fears
Lesson 11: Behavior Change - Setting Goals
and Staying Active
•
•
•
•
How to set and attain goals
Increase engagement in positive activities
Personal values as a critical component
Connection between activity and mood
Lesson 12: Finishing Up!
• Review and re-teach where needed
• Post assessment (optional, but recommended)
Booster Lessons
• Reminds students of main ideas
• Provide more opportunities to practice
General Evaluation Results
• Empirically evaluated in ~ 20 separate studies
• Treatment fidelity
• Emotion knowledge and social-emotional
competence
• Negative behavioral and emotional symptoms
• Primarily at Tier 1 and Tier 2
• Student and teacher satisfaction (social validity)
http://strongkids.uoregon.edu/
Strong Start effects on teacher ratings of 26 second grade
students internalizing symptoms & peer-related social skills
SSBS Peer Relat ions Subscale
Mean Raw Scores
18
Treatment
Control
14
10
Mean Raw Scores
SSRS Int ernalizing Subscale
56
Treatment
50
Control
44
38
6
Pretest
Posttest
Pretest
Posttest
Caldarella, P., Christensen, L., Kramer, T. J., & Kronmiller, K. (2009). The effects of Strong Start on second
grade students’ emotional and social competence. Early Childhood Education Journal, 37, 51 – 56.
Number of Students
Strong Kids effects on teacher ratings of 22 at-risk
elementary school students internalizing symptoms
16
14
12
10
8
6
14
13
10
5
4
2
0
Pre-test
4
9
3
Post-test
Clinical
Borderline
Normal
4
2
Follow-up
Marchant, M., Brown, M., Caldarella, P., & Young, E. (2010). Effects of Strong Kids curriculum on students at
risk for internalizing disorders: A pilot study. Journal of Empirically Based Practices in Schools, 11(2), 123-143.
Strong Start Pre-K effects on teacher ratings of 52
preschool school students
PKBS-2 Internalizing Behavior
Scores Over Time
130
STRS Relationship Conflict Score
Over Time
65
60
55
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
120
110
100
90
80
70
60
Pretest
Posttest
Follow-up
Treatment
Pretest
Posttest
Treatment +
Boosters
Control
Gunter, L., Caldarella, P., Korth, B.B., Young, K. R. (2012). Promoting social and emotional learning in
preschool students: A study of Strong Start Pre-K. Early Childhood Education Journal, 40 (3), 151-159.
Strong Start/Kids effects on teacher ratings of internalizing symptoms &
social skills at treatment school (n = 348) vs. control school (n = 266)
Kramer, T. (2013). Evaluating the effects of a social and emotional learning curriculum, Strong Kids,
administered school-wide (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
Strong Start/Kids effects on teacher ratings of at-risk (n = 48) and nonat-risk students (n = 300) internalizing symptoms & social skills
At-risk vs not-at-risk,
Peer relations
At-risk vs not-at-risk
Internalizing
55
4.5
SSRS-I mean score
4
3.5
3
At-risk
2.5
Not-at-risk
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
SSBS peer relations mean scores
5
50
45
At-risk
not-at-risk
40
35
30
Pretest
Posttest
Pretest
Posttest
Kramer, T. (2013). Evaluating the effects of a social and emotional learning curriculum, Strong Kids,
administered school-wide (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
Treatment Fidelity & Social Validity
• Teachers have been able to implement
Strong Kids with fidelity
– Most common areas missed: review of
previous week’s lesson and wrap-ups
• Teachers, students, parents valued goals,
procedures, and outcomes
– Lesson length a bit long for younger students
– More supplementary materials needed,
particularly for Strong Start
Positive Teacher Comments
“The strength of the curriculum was in providing students a way to talk
about their issues using a common language”
“Students seem to be doing better at inviting other people to play and
joining in activities”
“SEL is definitely necessary, since often the kids are coming to us in
pieces, and they can’t focus.”
“I had one boy . . .and he was really at risk and had behavior issues,
but he really just thrived during the lessons and he was totally
engaged in them. We would read a book and he would say, “I need
that book. That’s me in that book!”
“…we spend a lot of time teaching the students academics but we
know for our students at this school the most helpful thing for them is
emotional help…when you help them emotionally you’re empowering
them for the rest of their lives. And seeing them use the things we have
taught is very rewarding.”
Critical Teacher Comments
“I would want more supplemental material. I would love to have
photographs of people showing the emotions. The book had black and
white pictures that were real, but they were small.”
“More games and activities (in the manual) for the students, since this is
supposed to be something that we don’t have to plan for very much.”
“If there was a packet that came with it that had supplements with things
to do I would be more inclined to go through the section.
“(The lessons) were a little too long.”
“I thought the (students’) attention span was the hardest thing. . . I think
once I became more familiar with the format of it I got a little more
comfortable shortening it to their attention span.”
Study in Residential Treatment Center
• Evaluate effectiveness of Strong Teens with adolescent girls
• One previous study in RTC (Isava, 2006) with mixed results
• omitted two of the lessons
• taught over the course of 5-weeks instead of 12
• small sample
• In current study, Strong Teens administered to approximately
50 adolescent girls during weekly group therapy
• Wait-list control group design
• Data-analysis underway
Study in EBD classroom
• One study of Strong Kids implemented in a special
education self-contained classroom
• 21 third thru fifth graders with EBD
• Results showed improvements in students’
emotional knowledge and self report, but no
significant effects on teacher ratings
• Teachers planned to continue using Strong Kids
• More research with this population is needed
Nakayama, N. J. (2008). An investigation of the impact of the Strong Kids curriculum on social-emotional
knowledge and symptoms of elementary aged students in a self-contained special education setting.
Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Oregon, Eugene.
Using Strong Kids: Getting Started
• Materials ready (paper, posters, transparencies,
overhead projector)
• Familiarize yourself with the lesson, prepare for
transitions and lesson length
• Incorporate classroom rules
• Reinforce appropriate participation
• Consider seating arrangements (desks, tables, etc.)
Additional Suggestions
• Consider a team approach to leading a Strong
Kids group or for school-wide implementation:
teachers, counselors, psychologists, etc.
• Use pre-post tests (knowledge & symptoms) to
document effectiveness (with parent consent)
• Review Tips for Transfer Training at end of each
lesson, for maintenance and generalization
Recommendations at Tier 3
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Frequent reinforcement
Consider small groups for activities
Immediate feedback on written activities
Incorporate school-wide behavior supports
Allow opportunities to practice skills
Break up lessons
Use relevant, realistic examples specific to group
Supplement and reinforce lessons throughout week
Allow students to “show off” skills learned
Shorten scripts when lengthy
paul_caldarella@byu.edu
leslie_gunter@byu.edu
http://education.byu.edu/pbsi/