No abstract

It is common that intellectually gifted children—that is, children with an IQ ≥ 130—are referred to paediatric or child neuropsychiatry clinics for socio-emotional problems and/or school underachievement or maladjustment. These clinically-referred children with intellectual giftedness are thought to typically display internalizing problems (i.e., self-focused problems reflecting overcontrol of emotion and behavior), and to be more behaviorally impaired when “highly” gifted (IQ ≥ 145) or displaying developmental asynchrony (i.e., a heterogeneous developmental pattern, reflected in a significant verbal-performance discrepancy on IQ tests). We tested all these assumptions in 143 clinically-referred gifted children aged 8 to 12, using Wechsler's intelligence profile and the Child Behavior Checklist. Compared to a normative sample, gifted children displayed increased behavioral problems in the whole symptomatic range. Internalizing problems did not predominate over externalizing ones (i.e., acted-out problems, reflecting undercontrol of emotion and behavior), revealing a symptomatic nature of behavioral syndromes more severe than expected. “Highly gifted” children did not display more behavioral problems than the “low gifted.” Gifted children with a significant verbal-performance discrepancy displayed more externalizing problems and mixed behavioral syndromes than gifted children without such a discrepancy. These results suggest that developmental asynchrony matters when examining emotional and behavioral problems in gifted children.

NCT 00841022.

The psychological consequences of acne have been the subject of many studies. As a particularly visible skin disorder, acne complicates the daily lives of adolescents who are undergoing multiple transformations: physical, intellectual and emotional. While it is well established that acne can be responsible for depression and low self-esteem, it is likely that this impact is aggravated by the sociological evolution of adolescents in the 21st century. Understanding the codes of adolescents today (who can be characterized as being more concerned by their appearance than previous generations at the same age) allows us to optimize our medical approach to acne and facilitates treatment compliance and adherence.