Measuring Relationships Between Adolescents With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders and Their Teachers: A Psychometric Report

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) have difficulty forming and maintaining high-quality relationships with their teachers, yet they have the most to gain from positive relationships. The majority of studies examining teacher-student relationships have been correlational, focused on preschool and elementary-aged children, and relied solely on teacher ratings. To extend this line of research, we examined the internal consistency and internal construct validity of two new teacher- and student-report instruments assessing relationship quality. This brief psychometric study was conducted with 92 middle school students with EBD and their 11 teachers. Results showed strong psychometric properties for both instruments. Utility of the instruments in intervention work and future directions for research on the instruments are discussed.