Since much was unknown, there was little to no distinction between the different types of mental illness and developmental disorders that we refer to today.

[8] In order to make a more uniformed terminology, the National Mental Health and Special Education Coalition, which consists of over thirty professional and advocacy groups, coined the term "emotional and behavioral disorders" in 1988.

Students with a psychiatric diagnosis of conduct disorder are not guaranteed to receive additional educational services under an EBD classification.

[11] 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.

[13] These students also tend to have low rates of positive social interactions with peers in educational contexts.

Male students may be over-represented in the EBD population because they appear to be more likely to exhibit disruptive externalizing behavior that interferes with classroom instruction.

In any case, it is important to note that both internalizing and externalizing behaviour can and do occur in either sex;[13] Students with EBD are also at an increased risk for learning disabilities, school dropout, substance abuse, and juvenile delinquency.

[13] A person with EBD with "internalizing" behavior may have poor self-esteem, have depression, experience loss of interest in social, academic, and other life activities, and may exhibit non-suicidal self-injury or substance abuse.

Screening tools used to detect students with high levels of "internalizing" behavior are not sensitive and are rarely used in practice.

Students who "externalize" exhibit behaviors such as insulting, provoking, threatening, bullying, cursing, and fighting, along with other forms of aggression.

Another recommended form of treatment for children and adolescents diagnosed with ADHD would be counseling from a mental health professional.

Strauman (1989) investigated how emotional disorders shape a person's cognitive structure, that is, the mental processes people utilize to make sense of the world around them.

[17] He recruited three groups of individuals: those with social phobias, those with depression, and controls with no emotional disorder diagnosis.

MacLeod, Mathews, and Tata (1986) tested the reaction times of 32 participants, some of whom were diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety disorder, when presented with threatening words.

Some services include classrooms that are dedicated to educational foundations and work on building the student up possessively.

TBSI meets the legislative requirements for the use of restraint and time-out, along with providing the baseline work for behavior strategies and prevention throughout each environment.

This program allows students educational experience to have strategic interventions to aid their social and behavioral functioning.

[22] The state of California has Spectrum Center classrooms in Los Angeles and the San Francisco area which are providing Emotional Disabilities and Behavioral Services.

“Dealing with adverse behavior in the educational environment,” it serves students who poorly function at home, school, or community due to drugs and substance abuse or mental health issues.