Emotional and social well-being of gifted adolescents

This study examined the social functioning of people with characteristics of giftedness compared to non-gifted year-level peers within higher-level secondary education. Mental health problems, emotional intelligence, feelings of competence, feelings of (social) (in)adequacy and ego development were surveyed among four groups of adolescents (N range from 252 to 545 secondary school students) of varying intellectual capacity, extending from the high-average and superior ranges into the highly gifted range: high-average to superior intelligent, near gifted, gifted and highly gifted. The emotional and social well-being of adolescents in the gifted and highly gifted range did not differ from the other adolescents in the upper segment of the ability spectrum. The findings support other studies and disprove the assumption of vulnerability and maladjustment in adolescents in the gifted and highly gifted range, which might contribute to more awareness about persistent stereotypes that might hinder the development of adolescents with characteristics of (highly) giftedness.