Prevention and Intervention of Externalizing Problem Behavior in School: Development and Evaluation of a Teacher Coaching.

Children with externalizing problem behaviour are at risk of developing educational impairment, because of their problems in rule following, social behaviour and attention. This behaviour represents a great challenge for teacher. In addition, time pressures and conflicts with colleagues are the most common sources of stress for teachers. Till now teachers receive no evaluated training which in particular regards externalizing problem behaviour. Therefore we develop and evaluate an indicated prevention program for elementary school teachers with children with externalizing problem behaviour. All teachers of a participating school are given a general overview of externalizing problem behaviour (etiology, diagnosis) and information on evidence-based treatments for children with externalizing problem behaviour in school settings. Single teachers will then participate in a 12 week coaching in which they learn to apply classroom management techniques, strategies to improve their relationships with children, behaviour modification techniques and cognitive interventions to specific target children. The coaching intervention is based on functional behavioural analysis and provides teachers with evidence-based strategies which focuses on one target child. Longitudinal data will be collected in a within-subject control group design. Dependent measures include teacher and observer reports.