Understanding teachers' judgments of problematic classroom behavior: The influence of depression education on teachers' perceptions and judgments

Between 5% and 20% of school-aged children suffer from emotional or behavioral problems that justify mental health treatment (Tuma, 1989; Winkley, 1996). Elementary teachers appear to be ideal candidates for making referrals to academic and mental health resources for children's problems because they often have the opportunity to get to know their students well and because they spend a significant amount of time with their students every day. Research examining teachers' perceptions and judgments of classroom behavior traditionally uses archival data, vignettes 1 and staged videos. These studies suggest that teachers tend to focus on children with externalizing difficulties; however, little is known about teachers' perceptions of actual problematic behavior in their classrooms. Although the literature seems to indicate that teachers are aware of and concerned· about children with internalizing difficulties, very little is really known about how they understand and make decisions about children with internalizing difficulties. This dissertation examined teachers' reports of problematic classroom behavior, and the effect of reading about childhood depression or bullying behavior on their perceptions of their students.