While studies have considered the importance of the grandparent and grandchild relationship from the perspective of the former, the present study explores the perspective of young adult grandchildren concerning this relationship. Four relationship variables are examined: 1) the amount of contact; b) the assessed adequacy of contact; 3) the importance of the relationship; and 4) the role conception. The results of this study support the position that grandparents remain a significant factor in the lives of young adults.

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Kerr, Colangelo, and Gaeth (1988) assessed gifted adolescents' perceptions of their own and others' views of and reactions to their giftedness in personal, academic, and social areas through an open-ended questionnaire. Their results showed that the gifted adolescents' "views of their giftedness were not unidimensional" (p. 245). The purpose of the present study was to further Kerr et al. 's (1988) investigation by tailoring the questions to individuals' experiences and expanding the scoring scheme within response type. Results show that views of the gifted label and its effects are multifaceted, varying in ways different from those previously noted. Gifted adolescents may be coming to realize that there are positive and negative aspects to almost all social roles, statuses, and labels.Kerr, C'c>I~uu;~~le, and Cacth (1988) assessed gifted adolescents perceptions of their own and others' views of and reactions to their gifll'dness in j><>rsonal, academic, and social areas through an opcm-eoded questionnaire. Their results showed that the gifted adolescents' &dquo;views of their giftedness were not ill (p. 245), but mixed. They believed that others reacted to their giftedness more negatively than they themselves did and that although their giftedness negatively affected thcii-social relations, it positively affected their pers<>iic4 growth and academic performance. The purpose of the present study was to partially replicate Kerr et al.'s (1988) investigation mf gifted adotescents' attitudes by tailoring the questions to tdividuols experiences and expanding the scoring scheme for greater specificity within response type. This stuck' emphasizes attitudes toward one own giftedot one own gifted situation rather than the general status of being gifted. Although this studv, like the Kerr et al. (l9bS) stud'... asked for tlre best/worst thing about being gifted, the Kerr et al. (1988) study asked &dquo;what gifted means&dquo; and this study asks what &dquo;the term gifted means to you. Ken et al. ()988) did not directly report the responses to the items '! was happiest/unhappiest about being gifted&dquo; and&dquo;How did you fcel when you teamed you were gifted? The instrument used in this study emphasized a personal perspective. the ways &dquo;you&dquo; (the gifted student) are like or unlike other students. whether and how &dquo;you' see yourself as gifted, how &dquo;you fcml about that. and whether and how particular others treat )[1' ditterent)y because of &dquo;your&dquo; special abilities. Method ParticipantsThe sample was 144 (56% male, 44% female) gifted and talented students from counties across the state of Texas attending a summer Governor's School program conducted on the campus of a major southwestern state university. The students were 15 (28%) and 16 (72%) years old. (Sixteen was also the modal age of the Kerr et al. sample of participants in a gifted and talented program at a major midwestern state university.)Ninety-eight percent of the students in this study were in 10th grade. The participants comple...

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