Document Type
Article
DOI
10.25774/2qcg-b576
Abstract
Studies conducted in French Canadian schools following the COVID-19 lockdown report that children in a pandemic might have difficulties adapting. Gifted and twice-exceptional children—who might present special needs in this situation—could have different levels of psychosocial adaptation and mental-health needs than other children. This study assessed the psychosocial adaptation of gifted and twice-exceptional children and compared the adaptation levels of these individuals to those of non-identified gifted children. The results show that 62.5% of the gifted children had generally coped well with pandemic conditions, as did the non-identified gifted children (73.9%). Conversely, 59.5% of twice-exceptional children presented difficulties in adapting to the pandemic situation regardless of subscale (e.g., depression, anxiety, aggressiveness). Accordingly, they exhibited more internalized (p < .001) and externalized (p < .001) behaviors than the non-identified gifted children and more externalized behaviors than the gifted (p = .014). The children in the gifted sample exhibited age and gender differences, with the youngest showing more externalized difficulties than the older children and the boys showing more externalized behaviors than the girls. Taken together, these results suggest that giftedness is not an indication of a propensity for developing skills for adapting to pandemic conditions. It appears that having a neurodevelopmental condition associated with giftedness is more significant because the twice-exceptional children had more difficulty adapting than the non-identified gifted and, on some subscales, than the gifted.
Recommended Citation
Baudry, C., Leblanc-Lagacé, J., Massé, L., Pearson, J., Courtinat, A., Slater, E., & Ouellet, G. (2023). Parents’ perceptions of children’s psychosocial adaptation during the COVID-19 pandemic in Québec: Comparison with gifted and non-gifted children. SENG Journal: Exploring the Psychology of Giftedness, 2(1), 25-37. https://doi.org/10.25774/2qcg-b576