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Elementary school teachers’ preferences for school‐based interventions for students with emotional and behavioral problems
Author(s) -
Egan Theresa E.,
Wymbs Frances A.,
Owens Julie Sarno,
Evans Steven W.,
Hustus Chelsea,
Allan Darcey M.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
psychology in the schools
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.738
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1520-6807
pISSN - 0033-3085
DOI - 10.1002/pits.22294
Subject(s) - psychology , preference , psychological intervention , intervention (counseling) , mental health , mental health literacy , literacy , developmental psychology , applied psychology , clinical psychology , medical education , mathematics education , pedagogy , medicine , psychotherapist , psychiatry , mental illness , economics , microeconomics
Teachers’ adoption and implementation of evidence‐based programs is often limited. Program characteristics may be important facilitators or barriers of use, yet little is known about which attributes influence teacher decisions. Using a discrete choice experiment with a sample of general education elementary teachers ( N = 230), we examined (a) preference for attributes of school‐based interventions, (b) relative preference for three intervention packages with experimentally manipulated characteristics, and (c) teacher characteristics related to the above preference profiles. Intervention outcomes were the most important characteristics in teachers’ intervention decisions. Most teachers’ responses suggested preference for a social and emotional learning program (57.9%) or school‐based consultation for behavioral interventions (35.8%); a small group of teachers preferred a general support intervention (5.8%). Teachers preferring the general support intervention reported greater mental health symptoms, lower mental health literacy and lower confidence in program effectiveness than peers preferring other interventions. Implications for intervention development and future directions are discussed.