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Traditional programs for gifted children have been criticized for relying on narrow criteria of ability and achievement and for under-identifying disadvantaged students. Alternative programs have provided little follow up to demonstrate long term outcomes. This study examined the achievement, academic and career aspirations, and self concept of rural, low income, gifted students upon completion of high school. These students had been identified at the end of third grade utilizing distinctive, comprehensive strategies and had been exposed to a specially designed curriculum intervention from fourth through sixth grade, followed up by modified science classes in 8th and 9th grades. The 28 students in this special program (SPRING) who were available at the completion of high school were compared with a more traditionally identified gifted (GT) group (n = 25), and 53 students (NonGT) never identified as gifted. Analyses of variance, covariance, and chi-square tests demonstrated that upon completing high school, GT students were achieving higher, had taken more science and math courses than SPRING and NonGT students. GT students were also more likely to take college entrance exams and to go on to college than SPRING students. Career orientation differed for the two groups, with SPRING students more likely to prefer realistic or practical occupations. The effects of the program differed for the two schools involved, with one school showing more favorable self concept in high school for SPRING than GT students while the other school had both SPRING and GT higher than the NonGT students. The findings suggest the limitations of proposed alternative interventions when faced with the more powerful effects of family social and economic status and the lack of resources and opportunities in rural communities and schools. The findings also suggest the complexity of the relationship between giftedness and self concept. The study concludes with implications of the research, recommendations for effective practices and areas for future research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

When seeking answers to the question "Why are there so few eminent women?" Silverman (1995) addressed the inner experiences of gifted children suggesting that the combination of their emotional intensity and cognitive complexity renders them vulnerable to underachievement. She proposed that the emotional component of giftedness is more inclusive of the female experience and that this vulnerability implies the need for modifications in parenting in order for gifted girls to develop optimally. Researchers have investigated relationships between parents and gifted children, between fathers and sons, between mothers and daughters; but no research has been conducted investigating the structure of the relationship between a father and his gifted daughter that is supportive of her giftedness. Thus the current research utilized a qualitative methodology to develop a grounded theory of father support of giftedness in order to: (a) discover what the modifications in fathering gifted girls might be that would facilitate gifted girls' optimal development; and (b) identify what processes account for success without deriving hypotheses from the literature and then experimenting on them. This research investigated personal constructs of father support of giftedness from an intergenerational perspective in eight intact families with gifted daughters who had completed their first or second year of college. Data from three 90-minute in-depth interviews with each father and each daughter, and one 90-minute interview with each mother resulted in over 2,000 pages of cleaned data which were coded and analyzed. A theoretical model of father support of giftedness emerged from the data which expressed (a) intervening conditions influencing support, (b) causal conditions fostering support, (c) phenomenon of father support, (d) context fostering support, (e) context within which support is perceived, (f) action/interaction strategies, and (g) consequences of support. Subcategories for each category of the model were identified. Findings from this qualitative research implied that in these families, the supportive relationship between a gifted girl and her father was basic to her optimal development. Findings in these families indicated that, where fathers held high expectations of their daughters and provided encouragement, advocacy, and guidance, their daughters demonstrated perseverance, and persistence, with a sense of equanimity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Ethnic identity, self-esteem, and reflected appraisal are constructs that promote resiliency and each begins to play a larger role in daily life during adolescence. However, few studies explore these aspects of identity development during early/middle adolescence. Although it is theorized that ethnic identity and self-esteem increase and reflected appraisal (degree to which one's self-esteem is affected by the opinions of others) decreases across adolescence, there are no studies that simultaneously chart age-related differences in and relationships among ethnic identity, self-esteem, and reflected appraisal during adolescence. Therefore, it is unknown whether conventional scales measuring these constructs are appropriate for the measurement of ethnic identity, self-esteem, and reflected appraisal during early/middle adolescence. The current study addressed the salience of conventional scales for the measurement of these constructs and explored age-related changes in and relationships among these construct across adolescence. The participants were 159 adolescents, ranging in age from 10-18, with a mean age of 13.69. The sample derived from a large metropolitan city, with participants from 9 different academic environments. Ethnic identity was assessed using the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure, self-esteem was assessed using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and reflected appraisal was assessed by the Reflected Appraisal Subscale of the Contingencies of Self-Worth Scale. Results suggests that all scale were at least minimally acceptable reliability for the measurement of ethnic identity, self-esteem, and reflected appraisal during early and middle adolescence. Although, no age-related trends were found for these variables, several correlational relationships emerged among these variables. Ethnic identity and reflected appraisal were correlated with and unique predictors of with self-esteem during adolescence. Reflected appraisal and ethnic identity (including other group orientation) were not correlated. These results suggest that ethnic identity, self-esteem, and reflected appraisal are salient, reliably measurable constructs during adolescence. Age-related trends did not emerge from these data, however, factors such as academic giftedness and sample heterogeneity may have confounded results. Finally, correlational and regression analysis uncovered relationships among these variables. The findings from these data may be helpful for the development of treatment programs aimed at the development of resiliency during adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

This study explored feelings of isolation among gifted and nongifted students. Further, gender differences and feelings of isolation were explored. Lastly, differences between feelings of isolation among African American and White students were explored. There are seven research questions that were examined: (1) How do gifted students differ from students not identified as gifted in their feelings of isolation? (2) How do males differ from females in their feelings of isolation? (3) How do African American students differ from White students in their feelings of isolation? (4) How do gifted males, gifted females, males not identified as gifted and females not identified as gifted differ in their feelings of isolation? (5) How do gifted African American students, gifted White students, African American students not identified as gifted and White students not identified as gifted differ in their feelings of isolation? (6) How do African American males, African American females, White males and White females differ in their feelings of isolation? (7) How do gifted African American males, gifted African American females, gifted White males, gifted White females, African American males not identified as gifted, African American females not identified as gifted, White males not identified as gifted and White females not identified as gifted differ in their feelings of isolation? Based upon the research questions, the following hypotheses were tested: (1) Gifted students and students not identified as gifted differ with respect to feelings of isolation. (2) Male students and females students differ with respect to feelings of isolation. (3) African American students and White students differ with respect to feelings of isolation. (4) There is a significant interaction between giftedness and gender with respect to feelings of isolation. (5) There is a significant interaction between giftedness and race with respect to feelings of isolation. (6) There is a significant interaction between race and gender with respect to feelings of isolation. (7) There is a significant interaction among giftedness, race and gender with respect to feelings of isolation. A causal comparison research design was employed. Two hundred sixty-nine African American and White students in grades 9 through 12 were surveyed. The School Achievement Among Black Students Survey ( SPSABSS) (Ford, 1991) was chosen to measure feelings of isolation. To determine whether statistically significant differences in feelings of isolation across groups existed, one 3-way analysis of variance was employed on group mean scores for the dependent variable, feelings of isolation. The overall interaction of giftedness, race and gender was not statistically significant F(l, 261) = 0.011, p > 0.05. The interaction of gender and race with respect to feelings of isolation was statistically significant F(l, 261) = 5.83, p < 0.05. The interaction of giftedness and race on feelings of isolation was statistically significant F(1, 261) = 13.89, p < 0.00. The interaction of giftedness and gender on feelings of isolation was statistically significant F(1, 261) = 4.17, p < 0.05. (Abstract shortened by UMI.) (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

It has been claimed that highly gifted children become aware of philosophical, ethical, societal, and environmental issues at an unusually young age. Hollingworth (1942) considered an early interest in what she called "questions of origin and destiny" to be a marker for giftedness (p. 279). According to Hollingworth, children develop such concerns when they reach the mental age of 12 or 13. Since Hollingworth's time, many have echoed her assertions. With few exceptions, these claims rest upon case studies and intuition. To determine whether highly gifted children show early issue awareness, a comparison of highly gifted and typical children was undertaken. Highly gifted 7- to 9-year-olds were compared to two control groups, one matched on age, the other made up of 12- to 13-year-olds. Three approaches were used to gather information about children's issue awareness: Parents rated children's issue awareness and children responded both to a structured interview and to drawings depicting environmental and human rights issues. Whereas children's responses provided mixed results, with responses to drawings revealing early issue awareness in the highly gifted more so than interview-based responses, parents' perceptions of children's issue awareness strongly supported the hypothesis that highly gifted children have early issue awareness. It is not clear whether these discrepancies reflect parental bias, measurement error, or as proposed here, the effect of differential parenting strategies. The speculation that parents observe highly gifted children's early issue awareness and respond by protecting them from exposure to issues is consistent with the pattern of results. Although results failed to support Hollingworth's assertion that issue awareness arises when children have reached the mental age of 12 or 13, taken together, results provide modest support for the hypothesis that highly gifted children do indeed have early issue awareness compared to agemates. No differences were found between highly gifted and typical children in terms of emotional intensity or altruistic nature of their responses to issues that they considered important. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)