Comparative study on giftedness with socio-economically disadvantaged families

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe and to compare characteristics of socio-economically disadvantaged families in relation to the development of gifted behavior. Twenty-eight families from the Federal District participated in this study, among whom 14 had gifted children and 14 had non-gifted children. The data was collected through the Parent Success Inventory - PSI, the Test of Creative Thinking - Drawing Production, and a questionnaire about individual and family characteristics of the gifted. Data was analyzed using the t-test, Pearson's correlation and descriptive statistics. Differences were found between the groups with respect to communication, use of time, parental teaching practices and parental satisfaction. Parents of gifted students and non-gifted students evaluated the level of communication and parental satisfaction more positively than their children did. The results also indicated that the parents of gifted students participated more in the academic lives of their children. The majority of gifted students were boys, who occupied a special family position as the eldest or only child. In addition, no relationship was observed between creativity levels of parents and children. Nevertheless, the evidence showed that gifted students obtained higher performance on creativity tests when compared to non-gifted students. The results highlight the role that the family plays in fostering abilities, talents and interests.