Does talent protect or compromise? Investigation of the emotional and behavioural disorders and giftedness in children

Abstract

Gifted children are often portrayed in a positive light, with little attention given to the potential emotional and behavioural challenges they may face. The aim of this study was to examine the predictive role of parental and child-related socio-demographic factors, as well as giftedness factors (learning, motivation, creativity and leadership), on aspects of emotional and behavioural disorders. A total of 182 parents completed the demographic questionnaire, the Renzulli-Hartman Scale and the CBCL questionnaire. Our results indicated that, in addition to giftedness, the parental age, the fathers’ education level and chronic illnesses are significant predictors of emotional and behavioural disorders. Giftedness had a greater predictive power for internalization symptoms than for externalization symptoms, in line with previous studies.