Effectiveness of a brief behavioral training for teachers of children with behavioral difficulties at school: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Behavioral difficulties in children, such as hyperactivity, impulsivity, defiance, inattention, and noncompliance, are common and can severely impair school functioning. Teachers often struggle to effectively manage these behaviors. Although behavioral teacher training is a promising intervention to reduce behavioral difficulties of children in the classroom, brief and individualized training programs are currently lacking. We conduct a two-armed randomized controlled trial. Sixty elementary school teachers of children aged 4 to 13 years with daily occurring behavioral difficulties are randomly assigned to either receive a brief and individualized behavioral teacher training intervention or practice as usual (PAU). The intervention consists of two 2-h sessions and one 1-h follow-up session, spread over a maximum of six weeks. The intervention is provided by clinicians working at participating school collaborations, schools, or youth mental healthcare organizations. The primary outcome is teacher-reported severity of four individually selected daily occurring target behaviors in specific classroom situations. Secondary outcomes include teacher ratings on the teacher–child relationship, the child’s overall behavior at school, teacher self-efficacy, and use of behavior management strategies. In addition, parents rate the child’s behavior at home. Assessments occur at baseline (T0), immediately post-intervention (T1), and only in the intervention condition, 3-month follow-up (T2). This study evaluates a brief and individualized teacher training program embedded in everyday educational and clinical practice. If effective, the intervention may help to reduce behavioral difficulties in the classroom and strengthen teachers' confidence and skills, potentially reducing reliance on more intensive interventions. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT06127030, registered November 14, 2023 and updated November 2025 and June 2026.