Serious emotional disturbance

Emotional and behavioral disorders
Classification and external resources
Specialty	psychiatry
ICD-10	F90–F98
ICD-9-CM	312
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Emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD; sometimes called emotional disturbance or serious emotional disturbance) refer to a disability classification used in educational settings that allows educational institutions to provide special education and related services to students that have poor social or academic adjustment that cannot be better explained by biological abnormalities or a developmental disability.

The classification is often given to students that need individualized behavior supports to receive a free and appropriate public education, but would not be eligible for an individualized education program under another disability category of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

The IDEA requires that a student must exhibit one or more of the following characteristics over a long duration, and to a marked degree that adversely affects their educational performance, to receive an EBD classification:

The term "EBD" includes students diagnosed with schizophrenia, but does not apply to students who are "socially maladjusted", unless it is determined that they also meet the criteria for an EBD classification.

Providing or failing to provide an EBD classification to a student may be controversial, as the IDEA does not clarify which children would be considered "socially maladjusted", but ineligible for an individualized education program under an EBD classification. Some states do not allow students with a psychiatric diagnosis of conduct disorder to receive additional educational services under an EBD classification, although many students with an EBD classification do meet the diagnostic criteria for various disruptive behavior disorders, including attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), or conduct disorder (CD). Additionally, students considered "socially maladjusted", but ineligible for an EBD classification (i.e., students diagnosed with conduct disorder), often receive better educational services in special education classrooms or alternative schools with high structure, clear rules, and consistent consequences, which they would not receive in general education settings. The ambiguous guidelines for determining what students are "socially maladjusted", but without EBD, may cause many students that would benefit from special education services to receive less effective educational services.

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